Game #23--T-Mobile Park- Seattle Mariners vs. Miami Marlins

After a week of family fun in Colorado, Jackson Hole and Yellowstone we are back on the road to Our Field of Dreams 2023 Tour. We really enjoyed our time with our kids Steven, Brittany, Chris and Kayla along with our grandloves Makenna, Ella, Maddox and Bennett, but now it is back to pounding the pavement in our RV with a first stop in Seattle. We arrived in Seattle after a very long drive through three states on Tuesday, June 13th. Jim is the pilot and I am merely the co-pilot in charge of navigation. After a much needed rest, we were ready to put our game faces on for the Wednesday evening Mariners game on June 14th. We decided to get some walking in before the game so we journeyed down to Pike Place Market. We enjoyed the market which was full of a variety of food, flowers and shopping. We found a cute little restaurant just a few blocks from the market and had some delicious seafood. We had oysters, clam chowder, calamari, shrimp and cod. Thank goodness we split a plate because it was so much food. After our bellies were stuffed we decided it was best for us to walk to the stadium in order to burn off some of our lunch calories. We had a nice walk to the stadium stopping at a few places along the way. One of our stops was to The Tasting Room, which serves local Washington wines. I mean when you are in Washington aren't you supposed to take in all commodities they are known for? Our host Ellen was extremely helpful and knowledgable about the local wines. We did a tasting of some very good wines she selected based upon what we told her were our likes. She hit it spot on! Now back to the street to walk off the food and WINE! We arrived at the stadium way too early but it worked out just fine as our great friends Jim and Kathy Cook from San Clemente were meeting us for the game. We met outside the Home Plate entrance where the statues of Ken Griffey, Jr. and Edgar Martinez are located. We found out the Center Field gate opened first which is two hours prior to the first pitch. We lined up at the gate and soon we were entering with only a minimal amount of effort through security....that hot dog hat gets us every time! It was promotional night for the Mariners in honor of National Cancer Survivors Month they gave away t-shirts for Life Beyond Cancer. This was very meaningful to us as Jim's sister, Cyndi is currently in a battle with breast cancer. Once inside we were only allowed to stay in "The Pen" area until all gates opened 90-minutes prior to game time. We enjoyed watching batting practice from "The Pen" area and had hoped to catch a fly ball but some people just don't know how to take turns and share the fence. The bullpens are right in that area hence the name "The Pen." We watched pitchers warm up, and all I can say is I would run if a pitch came at me like that. Amazingly talented individuals! After they opened the rest of the park, our friends Jim and Kathy walked with us around the various parts of the stadium to take it all in. We journeyed up to the Trident Deck which is positioned above the left field foul pole. It is like a modern rooftop bar with the feel of a cozy backyard. The view from the Trident Deck is breathtakingly beautiful in all directions. We decided to stay a little longer and order a drink and just take it all in. Of course Jim was stopping anyone who looked official along the way to ask for hot dog/sausage recommendations. Several people recommended the Mariners Dog, which is actually a sausage with grilled peppers and onions. We went to the location of the hot dog/sausage recommendation and happened upon the Mariners Hall of Fame. The Mariners Hall of Fame is small due to their short history, beginning in 1977 as an expansion team. There were some interesting artifacts and nine bronze plaques honoring the inducted members. Inductees include Alvin Davis, Dave Niehaus, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martínez, Randy Johnson, Dan Wilson, Lou Piniella, Ken Griffey Jr., Jamie Moyer and Ichiro Suzuki. See our Instagram for photos @ourfieldofdreams2023. The Mariners only have two players that have had their numbers retired even though they have nine inducted members in the Mariners Hall of Fame. Ken Griffey, Jr. and Edgar Martinez are the only two to have their numbers retired. The Mariners set the bar high to make it an ultimate honor to have your number retired. Their criteria set by the Mariners' Board of Directors for retiring a number is the player must be elected to the National Hall of Fame and played at least five years for the Mariners, or come close to being elected to the National Hall of Fame and have spent a substantial portion of their career with the Mariners. As with all MLB Teams, Jackie Robinson's number 42 is also retired. Next up food and boy do the Mariners have options. I appreciated the signs posted around the stadium listing food options and locations. This is the first stadium that I have found that has this signage. Jim got his recommended hot dog/sausage and our friends Jim and Kathy and myself opted for a Poke Bowl. Great choices! Since I am a good sport and I know Jim must be getting tired of hot dogs I shared my Poke Bowl with him. Jim decided to do his hot dog review in the stadium area where we purchased the hot dog as our seats were on a different level and nothing is worse that a cold hot dog. He gave the Mariners Dog a 8.0. I gave my Poke Bowl a 10! Next we found our seats on the Club Level first base side of the field. We had a beautiful view of the skyline from our seats and a spectacular view of the sky as the sun set. Before the game began the National Anthem was sung by a cute children's choir. I always love to see children being highlighted, I guess that is the educator in me. Next up was the first pitch. It was thrown out by Chris Laneeuville a cancer survivor who just celebrate 21 years as a survivor of cancer. All throughout the stadium cancer survivors held up signs with the number of years they have been a cancer survivor. It was a very nice way to honor those who have won the battle of this terrible disease. First pitch left the mound at 6:40 with a crowd of 20,498 in attendance in a stadium that has a 47,929 capacity. Not too bad for a Wednesday evening. The Mariners came into the game with two wins in this series against the Marlins and were hoping for a sweep. Well the Marlins rookie pitcher Eury Perez had a different plan for those brooms. Perez pitched into the 6th inning holding the Marlins to two hits, struck out six and walked only one. It was a pitchers battle with the first score hitting the board in the top of the 3rd inning. Jonathan Davis hit a single followed by a walk by Jorge Soler, then a force out when Bryan De La Cruz grounded into second base. A wild pitch by Mariners Luis Castillo would bring in Davis to score. Score Marlins 1 - Mariners 0. The next two innings would be successful for both pitchers with no score. The innings were flying by as it was mostly 3 up and 3 down. Then in the top of the 6th inning the Marlins first at bat, Jorge Soler hit a four-banger. Score Marlins 2 - Mariners 0. After Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo walked Garrett Cooper and Jean Segura the manager pulled out the hook. Matt Brash came in and got the job done to get out of the inning. The rookie Eury Perez would continue to show his muscle at the plate in the bottom of the 6th and keep the Mariners off the board. In the top of the 7th inning with Brash still on the bump, Jon Berti hit a single and Luis Arraez was hit by a pitch. After seeing the pitchers warm up so close and personal, all I could say was OUCH! The walk back to the dugout for Brash brought in Andres Munoz who was able to get the job done. In the top of the 7th inning the rookie Perez was replaced by Dylan Floro who got the memo as it was three up and three down. The Marlins brought in Justin Topa in the 8th inning to replace Andres Munoz. It was a tough out for Topa as the Marlins first batter, Jesus Sanchez hit a line drive single. Next up Jean Sequra who also hit a single putting runners on first and second bases. Nick Fortes had a hard hit double to right field bringing home Sanchez. Score Marlins 3 - Mariners 0. Jon Berti would strike out making in one out with runners at second and third. Next up Jonathan Davis who hit a sacrifice fly scoring Segura. Topa would get the final out with a ground out by Luis Arraez. The damage could have been worse but the Mariners kept their defense in check. Score Marlins 4 - Mariners 0. The bottom of the 8th the energy for the Mariners grew strong in the stands and on the field. The Marlins brought in Tanner Scott to face the Mariners still focused on a sweep. First to the plate was Cal Raleigh who hit a single to pitcher Tanner Scott who made a throwing error advancing Raleigh to second base. Then the Mariners brought in their secret weapon, AJ Pollock (former Dodger) the DH. You could hear the crowd get excited but unfortunately Pollock would strike out swinging. Next up Jose Caballero would pop out and then J.P. Crawford would ground out. Score Marlins 4 - Mariners 0. A few fans started to depart the stadium BUT NOT THESE FANS! Oh no, we don't leave early and there is no crying in baseball! It was a great thing many fans stayed because the BEST inning of the game was the 9th inning. The top of the 9th the Mariners brought in Paul Sewald to close it out and he and the Mariners defense did a fantastic job. Although it started with a walk by Jorge Soler (that's okay he hit a homer in the 6th) the next batter Bryan De La Cruz would strike out swinging. The Mariners defense would put an exclamation point on the inning when Garrett Cooper grounded into a double play. Great work by second baseman Jose Caballero to first baseman Ty France. The crowd was pumped up for the bottom of the 9th inning. Rally caps were in place and the fans were screaming. We had some young boys sitting near us that were shouting wildly while sporting their rally caps. It was so cute! Then the unthinkable happened.....we looked on the big screen to see a man dressed in a hot dog suit dancing. They call him "RALLY FRANK." We laughed so hard our sides hurt. Well that little dance and the fan spirit brought out the most amazing inning of the night. Marlins brought in A. J. Puk to pitch. First to the plate was Julio Rodriguez who flied out to center. Ty France would start the rally off with a single. Teoscar Hernandez would reach on a fielder's choice and France would reach second on a fielding error by second baseman Luis Arraez. With runners on first and second, Jarred Kelenic would reach on a fielder's choice and the out called at second base was overturned. BASES LOADED, thanks to two errors made by Arraez. Eugenio Suarez came to the plate and we were all praying for a GRAND SLAM to tie the game. Suarez connected with a ball and sent it sailing high in the air to right field. It looked like it was going to be long gone. The crowd was going wild, us included! That was when Marlins right fielder Jesus Sanchez did a leaping catch OVER the wall to bring the ball back into the park and in his glove. Sanchez literally stole the grand slam from Eugenio Suarez and saved the game for the Marlins. Ty France would score making it Marlins 4 - Mariners 1 with two outs. Cal Raleigh would line out sharply to right field ending the game and one heck of an exciting 9th inning. Final score Marlins 4 - Mariners 1. That makes Our Field of Dreams record 10 wins for the home team and 13 losses for the home team. Next up we are traveling back to California, specifically the bay area, to see the Oakland A's play the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday afternoon and the San Francisco Giants play the San Diego Padres on Monday night. Until next time, PLAY BALL and Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

Game #22-Coors Field-Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco Giants

We are in beautiful Colorado staying at an RV park just west of Denver. The threat of rain loomed throughout the day which had us concerned for another rainout. The MLB weather website I watch gives up to date information on the likeliness of a rainout. All day the website showed a "possible rainout or delay." A rainout would sure put a big glitch in our plans since we have been joined by extra special guests. Our daughter Brittany, her husband Steven, and our darling grandloves Ella and Bennett have joined us. Brittany, Ella and Bennett arrived by plane and Steven arrived by Harley. The plan for months has been for them to join us for the Denver vs. Giants game because they too are Giants fans. They try to attend a Giants game on their wedding anniversary every year at a different stadium. So of course when they saw we were attending this game on June 6 just three days after their anniversary it made sense for them to join us. After the game we will travel to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone in the RV with our grandloves while Brittany and Steven travel by Harley enjoying the gorgeous countryside and yes RAIN! Also, our son Chris, his wife Kayla and our other grandloves Makenna and Maddox will met up with us in Yellowstone. As the time for the game drew near there was only a slight indication of a game delay or rainout. We arrived at the game a few hours early to do our usual walk around the stadium with our grandloves. We were amazed by the size of Coors Fields with a capacity of 50,144 and the third largest in MLB. Tonight's game would have a crowd of 29,190 which is great for a rain-threatening Tuesday night. Coors Field opened in downtown Denver in 1995 and is known as the hitter's park due to the effect of Denver's high elevation. Speaking of high elevation, the stadium seats are all green except for the 20th row of the upper deck which are purple to mark the elevation of one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level. See our pictures on Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. One interesting fact is that studies found that it was not necessarily thin air that resulted in more home runs but dry air. Since those studies in 2002 the Rockies installed a room-sized humidor to have a damper place to store the baseballs prior to games. Since that time the number of home runs at Coors Field have decreased. While we were walking around I observed two ladies struggling to take a selfie that would include their identical shirts. I asked them if I could help by taking their picture to which they were grateful. After taking several photos of them I asked them about their shirts. Their shirts said, "What Goes On?....LIFE." They told me they were recent widows who are just trying to figure life out now that they had lost their husbands. It was ironic that this would happen because just a few hours earlier we had received a call that Jim's mother had passed away. We were struggling with what to do....go to the game or stay back at the RV. Jim ultimately said we are going to continue on to the game with our kids and grandkids, mom would have wanted that. It was still not easy as our minds and hearts were elsewhere. I told the women they were the message that we needed at that moment. Coincidence? I think not! Other than the amazing architecture of Coors Field, the Rockies do not have a lot to see memorabilia wise due to them being a fairly new team with only a 30 year history. They have never won a World Series nor a NL West Division title. They have been a Wild Card five times, being successful in 2007 winning the NL Pennant. The Rockies have two retired numbers, #17 Todd Helton and #33 Larry Walker. Additionally, all of MLB have the famous #42 Jackie Robinson. Walking around the concourse provided many beautiful views of the stadium. Jim and I did take a walk up to "The Rooftop" in right field during the game for the most magical view of Coors Field. When we arrived to our section of seats we chatted with our usher Terry who had the recommendation of a Rockie Dog. I had told Jim I would be his understudy for the hot dog review as he was not really in the right spirit to perform. Jim went to get the recommended hot dog while I stayed with the grandloves preparing to put on the hot dog hat and do the review. As soon as Jim returned he said he wanted to do the review but only if his grandloves were included. Ella agreed to be a part of the review and shy Bennett reluctantly agreed. Jim gave the Rockie Dog a 7.5. After the review Bennett and Ella helped grandpa eat the hot dog and Ella thought the Rockie Dog should have been given an 8.0 and Bennett agreed with grandpa. See the reel on Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. As we were waiting for the game to begin we saw a woman with a sign that said "I've Hit Them ALL! #30 Quest Complete!" Of course we approached her and asked about her quest. She has been on her journey for 25 years and is a Phillies fan, therefore her shirt said, "Phinally 30 for 30." It is amazing how many people we have met that have the dream of visiting all 30 ballparks. Soon Brittany and Steven joined us and we captured a few photos together at the stadium before the first pitch. First pitch came at 6:40pm and LaMonte Wade Jr. hit that first pitch for a double. The 1st inning ended with no score by either team. That all changed in the top of the 2nd inning when a two out rally began with a double by rookie Patrick Bailey. Next to the plate was Brandon Crawford who has been in a little bit of a slump. Crawford hit a double bringing home Bailey to score. Score Giants 1 - Rockies 0. LaMonte Wade walked and then Thairo Estrada hit a single to bring home Crawford. Score Giants 2 - Rockies 0. With two runners on, Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch to load up the bases. J.D. Davis was at the plate while I dreamed of seeing a grand slam, no such luck as he was called out on strikes. It was top of the 3rd inning when Mitch Haniger hit a double and then the rookie Patrick Bailey came to the plate. Bailey hit a triple to score Haniger. Patrick Bailey has been a great addition to the Giants lineup. Score Giants 3 - Rockies 0. In the bottom of the 4th inning Rockies Randal Grichuk hit a triple and then Nolan Jones came to the plate and reached on a fielder's choice, the play at home was close but Grichuk scored. Score Giants 3 - Rockies 1. The damage to the Rockies happened in the top of the 5th when the Giants broke the game open! Mike Yastremski had reached on a walk when Patrick Bailey came to the plate to hit a double. LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a double scoring Yastremski and Bailey. Score Giants 5 - Rockies 1. The Rockies brought out the hook and changed pitchers to try to mitigate the bats of the Giants. With two outs Joc Pederson came to the plate and hit a single to put LaMonte Wade Jr. on 3rd base. J.D. Davis hit a double scoring both Wade and Pederson. Score Giants 7 - Rockies 1. The Giants were not done putting numbers on the board when Michael Conforto hit a single to bring home Davis. Score Giants 8 - Rockies 1. The Rockies would add one more in the bottom of the 5th with a single by Charlie Blackman and a double by Jurickson Profar. Score Giants 8 - Rockies 2. The Rockies had their third pitching change but that did not stop the Giants hitters. LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a single and Thairo Estrada hit a double when J.D. Davis hit a sacrifice fly to score Wade. Score Giants 9 - Rockies 2. The Rockies would show a little life in the bottom of the 7th inning in a two out rally. Charlie Blackmon walked then Jurickson Profar came to the plate and ripped a triple. Score Giants 9 - Rockies 3. Next Ryan McMahon hit a double scoring Profar. Score Giants 9 - Rockies 4. The game time was well over 3 hours by the 8th inning due to pitching changes and long at bats. In the top of the 9th inning the Giants began had three walks by LaMonte Wade Jr., Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores. With bases loaded my hopes for a grand slam were sparked with J. D. Davis at the plate. That did not happen and the Giants had two strikeouts one by J.D. Davis and the other by Austin Slater. Then it was Mitch Haniger who would get another walk to walk in a run. That hurts when you walk in a run. Score Giants 10 - Rockies 4. The Giants were very patient at the plate drawing 11 walks from six Rockies pitchers in this game. The bottom of the 9th would see some excellent defense by the Giants. Charlie Blackmon flied out making it one out. Jurickson Profar hit a single and then Ryan McMahon grounded into a double play. Brandon Crawford did his great work getting the ball to 2nd baseman Thaito Estrada who sent it bolting to LaMonte Wade Jr. for the double play. Final Score Giants 10 - Rockies 4. The record for the home team in "Our Field of Dreams Tour" is 10 wins and 12 losses. This was a great win for us on a day that started with our hearts hurting. The fun did not end with the final pitch and we are sure there was someone already up in heaven working to make her children and grandchildren happy. We were waiting for our shuttle bus to take the six of us back to the parking area. As we were waiting in line there was a shuttle bus in the line that had great music blasting. As fate would have it we were the last six on the packed bus. The driver began with, "You have just boarded the best shuttle of all and you are going to have so much fun, and if you don't, I'm quiting tomorrow." He then cranked up Earth, Wind and Fire, "Let's Groove" complete with flashing party lights. The entire bus was dancing, singing and having a great time. Our grandloves had a blast! One thing about Jim's mom is she LOVED dancing and music! Thanks mom for sending that little blessing our way. We needed that!!!! We will be taking a break from baseball to enjoy some family time in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. We will be back to baseball on June 14 when we are in Seattle to see the Mariners play the Marlins. Until next time, PLAY BALL!

Game #21-Kauffman Stadium-Kansas City Royals vs. Colorado Rockies

Kansas City! What a spectacular city! We spent a few extra days in Kansas City to get the brakes repaired on the fifth wheel. You need brakes...right? Lucky for us we had time to venture out to see what Kansas City commonly called the "City of Fountains" is all about. One thing we discovered was the people are so very friendly and the food is delicious. We went to our brother-in-law's fraternity brothers restaurant, Chicken and Pickle in North Kansas City. It is a restaurant that combines Pickleball and food, which by the way was fantastic. What a great concept! We also toured the Plaza area which has many shops and restaurants. On game day, June 2 we went to the legendary Arthur Bryant's Barbecue for lunch prior to the evening game. Many famous guests have dined at this longtime historical restaurant, even former Presidents Truman, Carter and Obama. We ordered the ribs because that is what experts agree are the most famous. We also had a side of the potato casserole and barbecue beans. It was all finger licking good. If you are looking for fancy then this is not your place, but if your looking for mouth-watering amazing barbecue then you must eat here! With our bellies full we set out to the ballpark. We arrived at 4pm for a 7:10pm game and discovered there was a pregame Celebrity Softball Game beginning at 5:00pm. That was a pleasant surprise. We wondered why when we arrived to the parking lot it was filling up and the lines at the gates were very long. When we got to the line at the gate we chatted with a few people always asking us questions about our t-shirt and our Field of Dreams Tour. We discovered that we picked a great game to attend because of the charity event being held by Big Slick to benefit Children's Mercy Hospital. A few of the celebrities who played were: Jason Sudeikus, Patrick Mahomes, Creed Humphrey, Darius Rucker, Chris Daughtry, David Cook, Al Yankovic. It was wonderful to see people come together to unite for a cause so important...children's health. We sat in the Price Chopper Patio to watch the Celebrity Softball Game which is located in the outfield. It was great because they have very large high-definition TVs which offered better views of the celebrities than our seats. After the softball game we did our normal walk around the ballpark taking in all the special features. Kauffman Stadium is 50 years old and home to the Kansas City Royals who were an expansion team franchise in 1969. So in baseball years they are a very young team. Kauffman Stadium is currently the only American League stadium to be named after a person and not a corporate sponser. The park's best feature I believe is the fountain and waterfall display behind the outfield fence. It is 322 feet and the largest privately funded fountain in the world. The fountains are on before and after the game and in between innings and the waterfalls continuously run. Another feature of the stadium is the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat. The Royals had a red seat placed amongst the all-blue seats behind home plate to honor Buck O'Neil. Buck O'Neil was a player and manager in the Negro American League with the Kansas City Monarchs. He was the first African American coach in Major League Baseball. In order to sit in the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat you must be nominated and worked to make a difference in the community. It is one of the biggest honors to sit in that seat. During the third inning the individual in the seat is recognized. Kauffman Stadium also has a Hall of Fame which is in the left field concourse and is free. We visited the Hall of Fame which obviously is much smaller than others we have seen since this is a relatively new ball club. The highlight of the exhibit I felt was the bat and glove exhibit over the years. To see the equipment baseball players used years ago it is a wonder they accomplished catching a ball at all let alone hit as may home runs as the old timers did. On display were the World Series Trophies of 1985 and 2015 and the retired number jerseys of George Brett #5, Dick Howser #10 and Frank White #20. While we were in the Hall of Fame we met a lovely woman who worked there, Nancy. She found us looking at the eight Golden Gloves received by Frank White. She told us a story of the first Golden Glove received in 1977 that was sitting on the self with a few dings in it. She said that Frank White's nephew took it to a little league game he was playing and took the glove off to play ball with it. His coach noticed what he was doing and kept him from using it by offering another glove. Years later that nephew was visiting the Hall of Fame and Nancy saw him staring at the Golden Glove. When she approached him he told her that Frank White was his uncle to which she replied, "Are you the one who took the Golden Glove to your baseball game?" He smiled and said, "Maybe!" Great story! Nancy also was responsible for the hot dog recommendation because Jim told her he wanted a specialty dog not just a plain old hot dog. She told us about Dugout Dog who serve specialty dogs. Just outside the Hall of Fame is an area for families. This area includes a carousel, playground equipment, batting cage and a pitching challenge area. This is the second ballpark we have been to that has a carousel, the first being Comerica Park home of the Detroit Tigers. Jim and I really liked the enormous scoreboard that is shaped like the Royals logo with a crown on top of it. We liked it because it had so much information in one place. We enjoy seeing the pitch count, pitch speed, mound visits remaining, etc. This scoreboard had it all! Next stop was Dugout Dog to get a Philly Dog from Dugout Dog. This hot dog had toppings of Philly meat, grilled peppers and onions, and cheese wiz. Jim gave it a 7.5. See his Instagram reel @ourfieldofdreams2023. I did not have any food at the ball game because I could not hold another morsel of food due to the giant lunch we had at Arthur Bryant's Barbecue. After the hot dog review, it was off to our seats in time for the National Anthem and starting line up. The Royals had a magnificent violinist play the National Anthem and it raised goose bumps on my arms. It was absolutely one of the most patriotic moments. While waiting for the game to start we chatted with those sitting around us who asked about our Field of Dreams Tour and of course asked the question everyone asks us, "What has been your favorite ballpark?" That's like asking me what's your favorite ice cream....ALL OF THEM! It is so hard to pick one as a favorite as they all are special in their own right. It was close to game time and the mascot Sluggerrr was out and about getting the crowd game ready. We were ready to watch a great game with a crowd of 23,427 fans in stadium with a capacity of 38,427. Not as big of a crowd as I expected for a Friday night but there is the fact that thundershowers are forecasted. Oh and we had some rain drops! First pitch at 7:10 by Royals Jordan Lyles who is 0-9 with a 6.89 ERA. It wasn't long before the Colorado Rockies were on the board with the third of the order, Ryan McMahon at bat. McMahon who is from Yorba Linda near our hometown, hit a homer to right field in the 1st inning. Score Rockies 1 - Royals 0. The Royals had an answer in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Edward Olivares hit a home run. Score Rockies 1 - Royals 1. Then in the bottom of the 3rd inning Drew Waters was first to the plate belting out a four-banger. Score Rockies 1 - Royals 2. It was a showing of some great defense and excellent pitching for the next four innings and the score remained the same. Then in the top of the 8th inning the Royals brought pitcher Carlos Hernandez who struggled and eventually got the hook. It began with a single by Brenton Doyle, a double by Ezequiel Tovar and a Jurickson Profar reaching on a Fielder's choice. Brenton Doyle reaches the plate score now tied at two. It still wasn't over yet for Hernandez but when the next batter Ryan McMahon hit a single bringing in a run it was over. Score Rockies 3 - Royals 2. Hernandez took that tough walk back to the dugout at Royals brought out pitcher Nick Wittgren. It wasn't pretty as the first batter Wittgren faced, Elias Diaz hit a double bringing in two runs. Score Rockies 5 - Royals 2. A single by Randal Grichuk and a double by Nolan Jones would make it Rockies 7 - Royals 2. A very tough inning for the Royals fans to watch. The game would end with a final score of Rockies 7 - Royals 2. This makes it 10 wins for the Home Team and 11 losses for the Home Team on our Field of Dreams Tour. Next up we will see the Colorado Rockies once again in their home field playing my beloved San Francisco Giants. Our daughter Brittany, husband Steven and grandkids Ella and Bennett will be joining us and we will ALL be cheering for the Giants at Coors Field, even Jim. Until next time PLAY BALL!

Game #20-Busch Stadium-St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals

It was a very warm and humid day in St. Louis on Tuesday, May 30 therefore, we were very happy to be attending an evening game. We began our visit to Busch Stadium at the Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum a few hours before game time. The museum opened in 2014 and is right across the street from the stadium in an area called St. Louis Ballpark Village. The Ballpark Village was built on the site of the demolished Busch Memorial Stadium. As we entered the Ballpark Village it was bursting with Cardinals fans all gathering to eat, drink and play the many games available, such as cornhole. The museum is located on the third floor of the Cardinal Nation Restaurant. Interestingly, on the top of this restaurant is a rooftop with more than 300 ticketed bleacher seats for fans to watch the game. We made our way to the third floor with a planned hour to go through the museum, which we determined was not near enough time. The Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum contains over 15,000 artifacts and over 80,000 photographs, second only to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the largest collection of baseball memorabilia. It was fascinating to see the replicas of the former Busch Ballparks. The current Busch stadium is number three and opened in 2006. We also appreciated the many baseball jerseys displayed from the 140 year history of Cardinals baseball. When the Cardinals first began in 1882 they were known as the Browns and were renamed the Cardinals in 1900. One feature within the museum was interactive and allowed Jim and I to hold an actual bat used by Stan "The Man" Musial. See our Instagram for photos @ourfieldofdreams2023. Seeing the old baseball equipment made me really appreciate the legends that played baseball back in the day with this antique equipment. It was just so mind boggling to see the old baseball gloves, bats and baseball cleats and to think of what the players were able to accomplish with this equipment. I think the area of the museum that showed this best was the room that housed display cases from each of the 11 World Series Championships. Each display case held a scorecard, program, jersey, a bat, baseball, glove and a photo of the team from that year. The St. Louis Cardinals are the second winningest baseball team next to the Yankees who have 27 World Series Champion titles. The Cardinals won titles in 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006 and 2011. In addition to these winning years, the Cardinals have only once this century had a record under .500. One of my favorite things I saw was the pocket watch given to the 1944 World Series Championship Cardinals. Years ago instead of rings players were given pocket watches for championships. These are just a few highlights from our short experience in the museum. If you are ever in St. Louis I strongly recommend a visit to this treasure. After our visit to the museum we walked to view the many statues just outside the ballpark. There are eleven statues of former St. Louis Cardinals that appear to be in action in various poses. The statues are smaller than other statues I have seen at other ballparks but then again there are so many! The statues are of #45 Bob Gibson, #6 Stan Musial, #9 Enos Slaughter, #20 Lou Brock, #2 Red Schoendienst, #17 Dizzy Dean, #1 Ozzie Smith, #23 Ted Simmons, Rogers Hornsby, Cool Papa Bell, George Sisler. Baseball players did not have numbers in the early years of baseball so some players do not have numbers. In addition to having a statue most of these players have retired numbers. Players in addition to those mentioned above who have retired numbers are: #10 Tony LaRussa, #14 Ken Boyer, #24 Whitey Herzog, #42 Jackie Robinson, and #42 Bruce Sutter. Additionally in 1984, on the 85th birthday of August Busch, President of the Cardinals they retired #85 in his honor. After several pictures we entered security and of course had to answer questions about the hot dog hat. Once we got inside the ballpark we did a walk around to see the stadium which has a capacity of 44,494. The attendance for this Tuesday evening game was an impressive 38,406. The stadium is built in a "retro-classic" style with a view of the downtown St. Louis skyline and the famous Gateway Arch. As we walked the concourse area we were overwhelmed by the number of food and drink options available. Jim had asked several people along our path for recommendations on a hot dog. Hands down everyone told Jim he must get the Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog. We found the hot dog stand and met the great people behind the stand, Kawanda and Percy. We told them about Jim's reviews and asked them if they would be a part of the review to which they agreed. It was great to have them as part of the review even having Percy describe the ingredients which were spicy mayo, french fried onions, dill pickles, a cured bacon-wrapped beef hot dog all on a french roll. Is your mouth watering yet? Jim gave it one of his highest ratings, an 8.5. As for me, I had a bratwurst because I am still dreaming about that delicious one in Milwaukee. I have to admit the Cardinals bratwurst was not as good as the Milwaukee bratwurst. It was close to game time so we went to our seats in time for the lineup and National Anthem. We met our usher Jan and asked her to take our picture which is the one on this blog. Thank you Jan! It was wonderful to see the stands filled with so many enthusiastic fans all being led by the Cardinal Mascot Freebird. That mascot has some energy! First pitch was at 6:45pm and after the previous nights shellacking by the Royals, the Cardinals came out in full force. Tonight's game was definitely a pitchers game as Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas held onto a shutout for 8 innings. The Royals starting pitcher was Zack Greinke and he pitched 5 scoreless innings. It wasn't until the 6th inning when the Royals replaced Greinke with Carlos Hernandez that the Cardinals would see a score. Paul Goldschmidt hit a single and then Nolan Arenado hit a double bringing home Goldschmidt. Score Royals 0 - Cardinals 1. Then in the bottom of the 8th inning a pitching change by the Royals led to another score for the Cardinals. Tommy Edman walked followed by a line drive single by Brendan Donavan. With runners on the corners and one out, Nolan Gorman would hit a sacrifice fly to bring Tommy Edman in to score. Score Royals 0 - Cardinals 2. Top on the 9th inning brought in the Cardinals closer Giovanny Gallegos to replace Miles Mikolas who pitched an amazing scoreless 8 innings with 102 pitches thrown. Gallegos gave up a double to Vinnie Pasquantino to start the inning. Next to the plate was Salvador Perez who hit a single. Now with no outs and runners on the corners and the go ahead run at the plate it became a little tense in the stands for the Cardinals fans. Bobby Witt Jr. came to the plate and grounded into a force out scoring Vinnie Pasquantino. Score Royals 1 - Cardinals 2. MJ Melendez would fly out making it two outs. Michael Massey came to the plate with 2 outs and struck out swinging. GAME OVER with a score of Royals 1 - Cardinals 2. The game was over in just 2 hours and 19 minutes. That is what happens when you have great talent on the mound. I do like to see more hits and runs but it is certainly amazing to see pitchers throw a great game. I wondered if Greinke stayed in a little longer if things would have been different. Great pitching from both ball clubs! We are off to Kansas City where we will see the Royals again as they take on the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. Until next time PLAY BALL!

Game #19-Target Field-Minnesota Twins vs. Toronto Blue Jays

WHAT A DAY!!!! On Saturday, May 27th we set out from our RV park in Mystic Lake to get to the game early. It was a day game with first pitch at 1:10pm so we planned on an 11:00am arrival. Target field opened in 2010 and has a capacity of 38,544 and today 29,111 were in attendance, but I am sure none were as excited as Jim and I on our 19th ballpark visit of 30. Several statues are just outside the gate, Tom Kelly who was the manager of the Twins, and players Harmon Killebrew and Kirby Puckett. There is a big golden glove just outside Gate #34 that is exactly 520 feet from home plate commemorating the longest home run hit by Harmon Killebrew. We sat in it for our picture. See our Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. We arrived at the Main Gate #34 which is a tribute to Kirby Puckett. In fact all the admission gates are numbered according to former Twins legends and located close to the positions they played. The left field gate is #6 honoring Tony Oliva, center field gate is #3 honoring Harmon Killebrew, right field gate is #29 honoring Rod Carew and home plate gate is #14 honoring Kent Hrbek. We entered the main gate which led into the Target Plaza. This plaza was full of energy with fans and families playing corn hole and a DJ playing great music. The energy was electric! Most of you that are following our journey on this Field of Dreams know that I wrote letters to all of the MLB Guest Relations explaining our trip and asking for any recommendations or tips on making our visit to their ballpark a home run. Well I have to say the Minnesota Twins knocked it out of the park, or shall I say Patrick Forsland, Senior Director, Guest Experience hit a grand slam! Patrick called me as soon as he received my letter back in January. There was no generic email or canned response, he picked up the phone and personally called me! I must admit there were three other teams that called me, but Patrick, well he was different. He was so personable and took a great amount of time asking questions about our trip and working with me to ensure our visit to Target Field was amazing. He gave me his contact information and said as the day drew closer we would be in touch. Patrick was good on his word because the day before the game Patrick called me to make a plan on where to meet before the game. We sought out a person who looked official and asked if they could radio Patrick to let him know we had arrived. We were directed to a wonderful man, Ryan who asked us if Patrick was expecting us. We told him yes and he quickly radioed Patrick to let him know we were at the main gate. We chatted with Ryan who agreed with us that Patrick was one of the best ever at connecting fans to the Twins. Patrick has been working for the Twins for 25 years and it definitely shows that he is passionate about this team. When he arrived we quickly exchanged our greetings and were gifted with Twins baseball hats and Purple Twins Prince Jerseys. We set out on a walk around and through the ballpark. We saw so many great parts of the stadium and were taken to places that the general public do not have access to. Target Field is the smallest in Major League Baseball with a footprint of only 8.5 acres. Due to this they really did not have room to create a Hall of Fame or special place for recognizing some of the greats of Twins baseball. Therefore, the Twins placed memorabilia in several places throughout the stadium. This was done exceptionally well! Please see our Instagram for a few photos of these treasures, @ourfieldofdreams2023. Next stop the Champions Club where members enjoy complimentary fine dining and the best seats in the house. The front row seats are at field level just 50 feet from home plate. After our time in the Champion Club we moved through the hallways and stairways to the most thrilling experience....a trip to the field. Patrick put wristbands on us so we would be official and let us walk out from 3rd base to home plate. We were able to see inside the dugouts and look at the stadium from the players vantage point. It was remarkable! We snapped several pictures and just took it all in. I loved the nostalgic Minnie and Paul 46-foot tall sign that stands over center-field and lights up after every Twins home run. Oh how I was hoping to see this happen! Also, new this year is the dugout celebration of the Twins when a player hits a home run. Players get welcomed back into the dugout with a tan "Land of 10,000 Rakes" fishing vest. Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez started this as a unique way to have fun and also as a way to represent Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. It just kind of adds a little spark to the celebration of a home run. I was hoping to see this after having read about it. We also had a bird's-eye view of the retired numbers just below the left-field Budweiser roof deck. Retired numbers are: # 3 Harmon Killebrew, #6 Tony Oliva, #14 Kent Hrbek, #29 Rod Carew, #34 Kirby Puckett, #28 Bert Blyleven, #10 Tom Kelly (manager, leading Twins to their first World Series Championship), #7 Joe Mauer, #36 Jim Kaat and #42 Jackie Robinson. Patrick left us for a while and came back to offer us seats in the Champion Club, 2 rows behind home plate. WOW!!!! He then walked us up to the Champion Club only to find out that he was given the wrong tickets and that they were for tomorrow's game. We graciously thanked him and expressed our gratefulness for all he had done for us. We walked together to our seats and Patrick said he was going to get us food vouchers so we waited for his return. Patrick quickly returned with great news! He did have the seats for us and had received the wrong envelope. WOO HOO! We then walked together to the Kramarczuk stand to get the polish dog Patrick recommended while he set off to get our tickets to the Champion Club. The Kramarczuk family has famously served Minnesota for over 60 years making all of their sausages by hand with quality ingredients. Jim decided he needed to expand his palate after I convinced him that my bratwurst in Milwaukee was way better than his hot dog. I did let him have ONE bite and he agreed. So if you see his Instagram reel please note that he made that disclaimer, so please do not post any harsh remarks. By the time we purchased our Kramarczuk Polish Dog, Patrick was back with our tickets and escorted us to the club. We said our goodbyes and thanked him and then ventured into the Champions Club. We felt like royalty! Before indulging in the vast array of delicious food and drinks available, we ventured out to our seats to do the hot dog review or shall I say sausage review. We were just two rows behind home plate with the stands filling up quickly so Jim was center stage. He put on his hot dog hat with hundreds watching and away he went giving his review. The Kramarczuk Polish Dog had loads of kraut and onions. Jim gave it an 8.0 which I tasted and agreed that it was one of the best so far. It was very close to first pitch so we settled in and waited to go back and experience some of the great food of the Champions Club. The Twins are playing the Toronto Blue Jays which makes this the third time on this road trip we are seeing the Blue Jays. First pitch was at 1:10 and it did not take long before the Blue Jays made their way on the scoreboard with Bo Bichette hitting a homer in the 1st inning. Score Blue Jays 1 - Twins 0. The Twins answered back in the bottom of the 1st with a walk by Joey Gallo, double by Edouard Julien and a groundout by Alex Kirilloff to score a run. Score tied with 1 apiece. Willi Castro came to the plate not expecting the plunk he received so it was off to first base for him and then eventually a steal to 2nd base. Next up Matt Wallner who singled driving in Julien and Castro. Score Blue Jays 1 - Twins 3. Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez was lights out in the 2nd inning putting down the batters in order. In the bottom of the 2nd Kyle Farmer singles and Edouard Julien doubles bringing home Kyle Farmer. Score Blue Jays 1 - Twins 4. Top of the 3rd the Blue Jays Tyler Heineman walked and George Springer hit a single before the muscle hit the plate. Bo Bichette hits a triple bringing in two runs. Score Blue Jays 3 - Twins 4. The Blue Jays were not done and in the top of the 4th Cavan Biggio hit a four-banger to right center field. Score now tied at 4. Twins mascot, TC Bear got the crowd going with some shenanigans on top of the visiting dugout. It was hysterical. You have to see the video on Instagram. It was a real nail-bitter until the bottom of the 5th inning when all heck broke loose. Alex Kirilloff hit a single right out of the chute bringing up Willi Castro who homered! We got to see the home run celebration complete with lights flashing and the special, new this year, "Land of 10,000 Rakes" vest being placed upon Castro as he entered the dugout. Score Blue Jays 4 - Twins 6. Castro did not get to wear that vest long because the next batter up Mat Wallner hit a moon shot to center field. Score Blue Jays 4 - Twins 7. A pitching change by the Blue Jays put an end to this rally. No more action would cross home plate until the bottom of the 7th inning when Willi Castro once again hit a homer. I guess he wanted the vest back. LOL Score Blue Jays 4 - Twins 8. Well in the bottom of the 8th poor Willi Castro had to give up that vest once again as Edouard Julien knocked one out of the park. Score Blue Jays 4 - Twins 9. The Blue Jays were not giving up and they put up a fight with the Twins closer Jorge Lopez. Whit Merrifield hit a single followed by a homer by Daulton Varsho. Score Blue Jays 6 - Twins 9. Cavan Biggio was hit by a pitch and then Alejandro Kirk hit a single. That brought the hook out for Lopez being replaced by Brock Stewart. With no outs and runners on 1st and 2nd and the tying run at the plate, Stewart went to work. George Springer flied out making it one out. Unfortunately the next batter was power hitter Bo Bichette hitting a single to bring in a run. Score Blue Jays 7 - Twins 9. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would fly out and the final out Brandon Belt (One of Shannon's favorite former Giants players) would be called out on strikes. Final score Blue Jays 7 - Twins 9. What an amazing experience we had at Target Field thanks to Patrick Forsland for making our Field of Dreams Tour extra special. Jim and I decided we are both now TWINS FANS! With 19 games in our Field of Dreams Tour the score is 9 wins and 10 losses for the home team. Next up is game number 20 at Busch Stadium to see the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Kansas City Royals. Until next time PLAY BALL!

Game #18-American Family Field-Milwaukee Brewers vs. San Francisco Giants (Shannon's favorite!)

It was a rather chilly and windy day in Milwaukee on Thursday, May 25 with high temperatures in the low 50s. I know for my Canadian family that's not cold, but for this SO CAL girl it's cold. When we arrived to American Family Field they must have thought it was cold too because they closed the roof. Actually when the temperature is below 60 they keep the roof closed. I have to admit I was not unhappy at all about the cold because I have a new Giants jacket that will keep me warm. American Family Field opened in 2001 with a fan-shaped retractable roof that can open and close in less than 10 minutes. It is a marvelous work of engineering. When we arrived to the stadium two hours before first pitch, the Brewers fans were setting up their tailgates in the parking lots complete with saugages and beer. Boy did those sausages barbecuing smell good! We walked around the perimeter of the stadium to look at the statues, monuments, and dedications to former Milwaukee players. We learned some new things about the Brewers on our journey. Jim discovered one of his long-time favorite players, Rollie Fingers played for the Brewers. Jim remembers when Rollie Fingers played for the Oakland A's and won three World Championships. I learned about Allan (Bud) Selig the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. I remember hearing his name as the former Commissioner of Baseball but did not know his story. More on Selig later in this blog. The Brewers have statues of Robin Yount "The Kid" who played for the Brewers for 20 years holding many records and having 3,142 career hits and Hank Aaron "The Hammer" who is one of the most iconic players of all time playing for the Brewers/Braves for 23 seasons. These men have made so many contributions to baseball history it is fitting for there to be large statues outside the gates of American Family Field. Also outside the front entrance, is a statue of Bob Uecker, longtime radio broadcaster and former Milwaukee Braves player. That is not a typo....Milwaukee's team used to be the Braves before they left for Atlanta. Bob Uecker was known as "Mr. Baseball" and appeared on many late night talk shows. This year is his 53rd season calling the Brewers games. From the front gates we walked around to view "The Walk of Fame." There are 22 home plate shaped granite stones commemorating players, coaches, executives and broadcasters who have made significant contributions to Major League Baseball. Each granite stone has the names, uniform numbers, signature and years associated with Milwaukee baseball. I say Milwaukee baseball because the first team was the Braves from 1953-1965 before the Brewers began playing in 1970. Additionally they have a "Brewers Wall of Honor" honoring those players, coaches, excutives and broadcasters who have made significant contributions to the Milwaukee Brewers Major League Baseball team. See our Instagram for pictures @ourfieldofdreams2023. It was getting close to the gates opening so we made our way to the gate. While at the gate we made a few friends, you know how shy and introverted we are. There were several Giants fans whom we made it a point to speak with and find out their story of what a Giants fan was doing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was getting close to the gate opening when we were approached by a woman named Mary. She asked us if this was our first time to American Family Field to which we said yes. That is when Mary's eyes lit up and the information began to pour. Now Mary looked very official sporting her bright yellow safety vest, thus Jim and I both assumed she was a guest services employee. After about 10 minutes of free-flowing information from Mary the gates opened and she quickly said meet me on the other side after security and I will take you to those places I mentioned. My thoughts were how nice that American Family Field has such friendly and helpful guest services employees. Once we got through security which took a little extra time due to having to explain the very large hot dog hat hanging out of my bag, we met up with Mary. She quickly wisked us off to Guest Services to pick up our First Time Certificate and other gifts from a Guest Services employee. It was at that time that we realized she was not an employee at all but what we would call an ambassador for the Brewers. Mary LOVES the Brewers and it was as if she was showing off HER own house. She took us from place to place giving us many details and even pointed us in the right direction of the hot dog stand that was recommended from Bob at Guest Services. We graciously thanked Mary for her escorted tour and were off to buy our hot dog from Topped Hot Dog. Once we got to our seats Jim did his hot dog review of the Badger State Dog, topped with Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar, Cranberry, Jalapeno, Ketchup, Bacon and Tater Tots. He gave it a 7.5. See his reel on Instagram. I tasted it too and it was delicious, but not as delicious as my Johnsonville Bratwurst! That "Brat" was a 10 in my book. After we settled the beasts in our bellies because we had fasted all day in preparation for some great ballpark food we went to the Selig Experience. The Selig Experience is an exhibit inside the ballpark that shows a 15-minute documentary of Bud Selig's life and work for the Milwaukee Brewers. As a young boy Selig grew up loving baseball and attended many minor league baseball games with his mom. When the Boston Braves relocated to Milwaukee in 1953 Selig became a major stockholder. Selig was devastated with the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1965 and thus began his mission to get another major league team to Milwaukee. He fought tirelessly for five years and in 1970 he bought the bankrupt Seattle Pilots bringing them to Milwaukee and renaming them the Brewers. Following the documentary a screen went up and a life-sized 3D encounter took place where it appeared Selig himself was talking to us from his office. It was amazing! When we exited the theatre there stood the office that was behind the screen which was an authentic reproduction of Selig's office and a smoking cigarette in the ashtray. All I can say is that technology is fascinating! In fact, this 3D technology is only found in a handful of exhibits around the world. If you are ever in American Family Field this is a MUST see! Another fan favorite feature is Bernie's Chalet complete with a slide that Bernie Brewer, the team's mascot, slides down when the Brewers hit a home run. Years ago Bernie would slide into a huge beer mug of beer now he just slides onto a platform. The mascot stands on the platform the entire game holding up signs to lead the crowd in cheers. It is a great crowd pleaser. The Brewers proudly display their retired numbers on the left and right field walls. Retired numbers are: #1 Allan "Bud" Selig, founder; #4 Paul Molitor; #19 Robin Yount; #34 Rollie Fingers; #44 Hank Aaron; and #42 Jackie Robinson. Something unique to the Brewers games is during the 7th inning stretch they not only sing, "Take Me Out To The Ball Game," they sing, "Roll Out The Barrell." It was great to see the fans cheerfully singing this song. Now on to the game with 24,536 in attendance of a 41,700 seat capacity stadium. The rule is we cheer for the home team but not tonight because the Brewers are playing one of our teams. This is the second time on this road trip to see the Giants. They won in Miami so we were hoping for another win by the Giants. Well at least I was hoping for a win not so sure about Jim. LOL The Giants were coming off a tough loss the night before to the Minnesota Twins. But as they say in baseball PLAY BALL! It was all about the pitching tonight and first pitch was at 6:40pm. Starting pitcher for the Brewers was Julio Teheran who kept the Giants off the board for four innings. The Giants have lost their fifth spot in their pitching rotation due to an injury so they had to rely on their bullpen to essentially fill that fifth spot. Scott Alexander pitched a perfect 1st inning for the Giants before passing the baton to Taylor Rogers in the 2nd inning. Jakob Junis came out in the 3rd inning to replace Rogers and would stay until the 5th inning. In the top of the 5th inning it was a scoreless game until Giants Casey Schmitt hit a single. Schmitt stole a base just before LaMonte Wade Jr. came to the plate. "Late Night LaMonte" had a hard hit single that brought Casey Schmitt in to score. Giants 1 - Brewers 0. Bottom of the 5th inning Giants pulled Junis and put in Sean Manaea to strike out the side. Brewers brought in a fresh arm replacing Julio Teheran with Hoby Milner who did not last long before being replaced by Trevor Magill. In the bottom of the 7th inning Giants brought in Tyler Rogers, twin brother of Taylor Rogers who did a fantastic job. Can you imagine being the parents of twin boys who not only pitch in the majors, but are on the same team! Top of the 8th inning the Brewers pitching just could not control the bats of the Giants. First to bat was Michael Conforto who hit a deep home run to center field. Score Giants 2 - Brewers 0. Mike Yastrzemski hit a single to get on base and then Blake Sabol was hit by a pitch. With runners on first and second Casey Schmitt hit a double bringing the runners home. Score Giants 4 - Brewers 0. Next up Giants newbie catcher, Patrick Bailey who hit a double bringing home a run. I love this kid! Score Giants 5 - Brewers 0. John Brebbia replaced Tyler Rogers to close out the game. Giants pitching served up a shut out! Giants fans and especially me were delighted! We are off to Minneapolis where we will see the Twins take on the Blue Jays on Saturday. We have seen the Blue Jays play more than any other team on this trip. Until next time PLAY BALL!

Game # 17-Wrigley Field-Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets

This is one of the stadiums Jim and I have most looked forward to visiting. There is just something about going to a place that has over 100 years of baseball history. This is Jim's first visit to Wrigley Field and my second. I was at Wrigley Field in 1987 the summer before the lights were put in and when Harry Caray was still singing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" in the 7th inning stretch. Now here Jim and I are together on this Tuesday, May 23, 2023 living Our Field of Dreams! We were so thrilled to have our great friends from Southern California, Scott and Lina join us for this game. Everyone who has been to Wrigley Field knows that parking is a huge problem and they look for a variety of options to get to the park. Our friend Scott is an expert at navigating these challenges and so he came up with a plan. We thought we would just Uber but instead we went with Scott's plan. He found parking at a private residence online and paid for it through an app. People who live near the stadium sell their driveway or residence parking spots on game days for a nice fee. So we found the house he bought the parking spot from and parked under the famous Chicago "L." I must say I was a little tense walking down the alleyways to get to the stadium. We arrived at the stadium full of excitment and anticipation for a great experience. My heart raced as we came around the corner and saw the iconic marquee outside Wrigley Field. This marquee is bright red with big white letters "Wrigley Field Home of Chicago Cubs. I have to beleive this is one of the most photographed spots ever. We took several pictures in front of the marquee which you can view on our Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. We thought it would be beneficial to take in a tour of Wrigley Field prior to the game. We had a 3:15pm tour which was hosted by a terrific guide Kevin. He was extremely informative about Wrigley Field and even gave us a hot dog suggestion and where to go for pregame beverages after the tour. Kevin gave us a very extensive timeline of the second oldest major league baseball park, which first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park. Weeghman Park was home to the Chicago Whales of the Federal League which folded after 1915. The Cubs played their first home game at the park on April 20, 1916. William Wrigley, Jr. bought the Cubs in 1921 and the stadium was called Cubs Park until 1927 when it was renamed Wrigley Field. As of 2020 Wrigley Field was designated a U.S. National Landmark and with good reason! The Cubs have been owned by the Ricketts Family since 2009. In fact we saw Thomas Ricketts at the game sitting just 15 rows in front of us. I just can't wrap my head around being the owner of a baseball team! My family tree is just not that wealthy. Maybe Jim and I could start a Camp Brayville Baseball Team with our grandkids. We will have to negotiate their contracts. LOL. Our tour guide Kevin gave us so much information and shared so many great stories of Wrigley Field. Did you know that Wrigley Field is the only Major League Baseball field to NOT have padded outfield walls? They have ivy covered bricks which do not cushion so well when fielders hit them while going for a ball. In fact, the warning track is made of crushed brick so when a fielder is going backwards for a fly ball they can hear they are getting close to the fence by the sound under their cleats. Interestingly if a ball goes into the thick ivy it is ruled a ground-rule double but only if the fielder puts his hands up in the air. If they go for the ball it remains in play. Some of the rookies have been hurt by that rule if they don't know to put their hands up. One thing that really showcased the history of the park is the old hand-turned scoreboard. I just kept thinking how many people over the decades have put up numbers on that scoreboard to record some of the greatest players of all time home runs. So nostalgic! Wrigley Field was the very last MLB park to have lights installed which happened in 1988. Until that time all games were played during the day. This brings me to the really funny stories shared by Kevin about this time period. Have you heard about the "Bleacher Bums?" They are Chicago Cubs fans who sit in the bleacher section of Wrigley Field. The reason they were originally referred to as "bums" is because, due to their ability to regularly attend day games the assumption was that they did not have jobs. Soon because of this men started attending wearing hard hats and carrying lunch pails like they just got off work. It is too bad those bleachers can't talk because some of the things that went on are hysterical. Kevin told us of a race that was done by the "Bleacher Bums" two men, one atop the left outfield wall and another atop the right outfield wall would wait for a woman holding a beer on the centerfield wall to drop a hanky indicating the start of the race. The men would run atop the outfield fence and who reached her first got the beer. This was just one of many stories he told us. Because of the exuberant fans who would frequently fall out of the bleachers onto the field they installed a long chain-link fence strip running the entire length of the outfield wall. They call this feature "The Basket" because it catches fans before they fall to the field. When you look beyond the bleachers and into the community next to the stadium you will see bleachers on top of the roofs of neighboring buildings. I was amazed to see these bleachers filled to capacity on this Tuesday evening game! There are sixteen rooftops of residential buildings which have bleachers on them to view the baseball games. One of the stories our tour guide Kevin shared with us was that many years ago, next to the stadium near left field was an insane asylum. One day they heard some screaming from the insane asylum during a game and they said, "That came out of left field." I am sure there are so many stories and probably books have been written about these stories of Wrigley Field. Next to the bleachers the foul poles are both marked with a "Hey, Hey" in honor of Jack Brickhouse, who was the play by play voice of the Chicago Cubs from 1948 to 1981. Wrigley Park has many flags flying on the outer roofline. Currently they fly 24 flags reading the last names of Cubs Hall of Famers. They also fly flags for players with retired numbers on the right and left field foul poles. But the most amazing spectacle and long-time tradition of the Cubs is to fly the "W flag" or "L flag" following a win or loss. The win flag is white with a big blue W and the loss flag is blue with a big white L. Also drenched in tradition, is the singing of "Go, Cubs, Go" upon a Cubs win. Another tradition is that if an opposing team player hits a home run into the bleachers you must "THROW IT BACK!" The crowd will continue to scream "THROW IT BACK" until the person who caught the ball throws it back onto the field. Also, if the Cubs get a home run not only do the lights flash but the crowd breaks out into singing "Whoomp! There it is!" All of this information and we are bursting at the seams to watch the game and hope to see some of these traditions take place. Once the tour had ended we took the advice of our tour guide Kevin and set out to find the famous Murphy's Sports Bar across the street from the Harry Caray Statue. We went into this famous tavern and where amazed at the amount of memorabilia hanging on the walls not to mention the spirited fans crowding the place. We had a before hot dog drink and then made our way into the stadium. First order of business was for Jim to buy the Kosher Chicago Dog and do his review. He gave the hot dog an 8.0 and gave an excellent description. You will have to see his reel on Instagram. Scott, Lina and I had a very delicious burger with fries complete with cheese dipping sauce. We all thought the burgers were great. Now on to the game and boy what a game! I was blown away by the attendance for a Tuesday evening game 35,958! That is almost a sell out crowd. It wasn't long before we got to see one of the Cubs traditions because in the botton of the 2nd inning Seiya Suzuki hit a homer! The lights flashed, the fans cheered and they all sang, "Whoomp! There it is!" Mets 0 - Cubs 1. A walk by Christopher Morel and a single by Yan Gomes would bring in another run. Mets 0 - Cubs 2. Then a smashing 2-run homer by Matt Mervis would bring the fans once again to their feet singing, "Whoomp! There it is!" Mets 0 - Cubs 4. It would take the 4th inning for us to see the other Cubs tradition of "THROW IT BACK." When Mets Pete Alonso hit a homer into the center field bleachers, a large eruption of "THROW IT BACK" came until the fan threw the ball back onto the field. It was so funny! Next in the bottom of the 4th inning the Cubs offense was not done putting scores on the board. Matt Mervis singled on a sharp ground ball and an unsuccessful play at home plate and then a throw to second calling Matt Mervis out was overturned. Score Mets 1 - Cubs 5. Then singles by Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson would drive in a run making it Mets 1 - Cubs 6. The top of the 6th inning started pretty rough for Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly with singles by Mets Brandon Nimmo and Eduardo Excobar and then a walk by Francisco Lindor before the Cubs got the hook out. Cubs pitcher Jeremiah Estrada came out to face Mets Pete Alonso who is a force to be reckoned with. Alonso grounded into a force out bringing in a run. Score Mets 2 - Cubs 6. Then in the bottom of the 7th inning, because we had not seen it enough, the Cubs Christopher Morel hit a homer! We just loved seeing how the Cubs celebrate a homer! Score Mets 2 - Cubs 7, where the score would remain until the end of the game. Then we were able to see first hand the huge celebration of the WIN by the Cubs fans. The large white flag with the big blue W was carried around by the Cub's mascot on the field as the crowd broke out into the song, "Go, Cubs, Go!" We were all so overjoyed to be at a game where we could witness these strong Cubs tradtions. Now we are off to Milwaukee and our friends Scott and Lina are homeward bound. We will be seeing the Milwaukee Brewers face the San Francisco Giants. Right now the Field of Dreams Tour record is 8 wins and 9 loses for the home team. Our rule is that we always cheer for the home team unless they are playing the Giants or Dodgers. So for me I will be cheering on my Giants and Jim will be quietly cheering for the Giants......probably not! Until next time PLAY BALL!