Pictures are posted - enjoy!

Follow-up News from our trip

Some news stories from Tuesday...

1. Jeter breaks Gehrig record at Yankee Stadium
2. Tatis out for season after being named to Roadtrip All Star Team
3. Mets fading fast
4. Rays in 1st still and holding off the Sox
5. 2 weeks to go until playoffs...

And the Seahawks will win 10 games despite being 0-2.

Did you know...

When the Mets and Yankees both had doubleheaders at home this past Saturday, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, only twice before have they both played two games at home on the same day -- on Sept. 21, 1982, and April 13, 1997.

We were there for the 3rd time ever.

Fantasy Football

In weeks 1 and 2, Karl beats Bell and Renninger...Izzy will fall to the mighty Job Hoppers!

Cowboys beat Eagles

What a game...great plays on both sides, bad calls on both sides, some turnovers on both sides, some touchdowns on both sides...what a game...

Couldn't resist...

Road Trip All Stars

In a yearly tradition, here are our 2008 road trip all-stars...

C - Kevin Cash (Boston) - Had one hit, a three-run HR, and caught Tim Wakefield's knuckleball for 8 innings.

1B - Casey Kotchman (Atlanta) - In game 1 of the doubleheader, he went 3 for 3 with a run and run batted in.

2B - Kelly Johnson (Atlanta) - In game 2 of the doubleheader, he went 2 for four. Nothing else, but he was the best 2B we saw in four games.

SS - Derek Jeter (Yankees) - Went 3 for 4 with a single, double, and home run. Scored three runs and tied Lou Gerhig for most hits at Yankee Stadium. Honorable mention to Jed Lowrie (Boston) - the rookie went 2 for 2 with 2 doubles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly.

3B - Alex Rodriguez (Yankees) - Hit a grand slam and had a double. Ended with 2 runs and 4 runs batted in.

OF - Carlos Beltran (Mets) - In game 1, he went 3 for 4 with a double and HR.

OF - Francisco Perez (Tampa Bay) - The rookie went 2 of 3 with a HR and 3 RBIs.

OF - Fernando Tatis (Mets) - In game 2, he went 3 for 4 and seems to be the comeback player of 2008 considering he was basically out of baseball for the last several seasons.

SP - Tim Wakefield (Boston) - Pitched 8 innings of three hit shutout baseball.

RP - David Price (Tampa Bay) - Pitched over 5 innings of 3 hit baseball in his major league debut and we were there!

Not so honorable mention - Scott Rolen who had two errors for Toronto and could have been given two more...

Home

The guys just dropped me off at home. I'm doing laundry and catching up on how poorly my fantasy football teams did this week. There will be more posts coming in the coming days...looking back on the trip - highlighting the trip in retrospect. Meanwhile - here are some shoutouts...

• "Tech-Man" - to Karl for working the blackberry all weekend. Blogging, weather updates, checking baseball and football scores, updating fantasy football rosters as well as extensive football stat research on the trip home.
• "The Transporter" - to Matt for driving over 835 miles. Matt also managed the bus schedule, and got us onto the D train rather than the 4 train to The Bronx.

I'm off to bed now...stay tuned.

Yankees Win

Saw a great game in the Bronx but now we are beginning the trek back to Central PA.

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Derek Jeter

Just hit a homerun to tie Lou Gehrig for most hits at Yankee Stadium. He now needs a triple to hit for the cycle.

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David Price

We have now seen the major league debut of David Price. He's the hottest young prospect in baseball at age 18.

Game has had 3 homeruns so plenty of offense through three innings.

Now our challenge is to figure out whose girlfriend from Tampa Bay is behind us.

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Grand Slam

A-Rod just hit a grand slam in the first inning. Yankee fans rejoicing.

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Yankee Game

We are at Yankee Stadium and have seats behind home plate at the 8th final game at the stadium. It is really hot but fortunately we are in the shade. It will be like a July game in September.

We had a little drama getting into the stadium as Izzy could not bring in his backpack. So while the rest of us checked out the stadium, Izzy ran to the local bowling alley for a locker to store his bag.

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Wheels on the Bus

We're up and moving after a good night of rest. Izzy did not snore as much and now we're on the bus singing "the wheels on the bus...". The bus is packed - the counter says there is 67 people on the 45 person bus. Got to love public transportation.
We're heading to the city for breakfast and then out to the Bronx for the Yankee game. The weather looks like a hot and humid one.

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Game 2

We left midway through the game with Mets winning 4-0. Looks like we did not miss much as they ended up winning 5-0.
We are now making our way back to the hotel via subway and bus. Izzy got propositioned by a street woman who wanted to party with him. I never saw Izzy run so fast. We are back to 4 travelers as John headed home after enduring a long day of Mets games. I think he will cheer for his Yankees tomorrow.

We are all looking forward to sleep. The race will be on to see if we can beat Izzy's snoring.

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Game 2

Matt and I jumped the railing and ended up behind home plate for a few innings. The rest of the guys are enjoying watch the ushers throw people like Matt and I out of the seats around them.

We'll likely bolt before the end of this game since the Mets are winning easily and we need to make sure we don't miss our bus back to NJ.

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Let's play Two

We're here for game 2. 60 percent of the game 1 fans have left.

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Mets Lose 3-2

The bullpen blew it for the Mets and the Braves scored 3 in the 8th inning to win.

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2 - 2

Now its all tied up.

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Still 2 - 0

But the Braves have the based loaded in the 8th with no one out. Call to the bullpen. Mets fans look nervous, especially Matt.

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Mets score 2

Finally some offense. Mets load the bases and score 2 in the 4th inning. Santana for the Mets is pitching well. More details later.

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Notre Dame

The Irish are currently winning 28-17. Looks like a good game with a bit more offense than the 0-0 game here at Shea in the 4th inning.

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Ballpark

Ah the sounds of Shea Stadium - jumbo jets flying directly overhead. Nothing like a hot dog, baseball, and jet fuel.

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On the subway

We are on the way to Shea Stadium from Times Square. We've added a 5th person to our tour - Izzy's buddy John who lives in NYC so we now fit in a bit better in the big city. Izzy, our traveling photo-journalist, has been a bit lax on the photo taking as he doesn't want to appear like too much of a tourist. Otherwise we are on the "tube" with a bunch of annoying Mets fans - including Matt. Someone mentioned that John Rocker is throwing out the first pitch today.

We had lunch at the ESPNzone in Times Square where Snoop Dog was our waiter. Ok, he just looked like Snoop Dog.

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Doubleheader today

Did I mention we are seeing a doubleheader today?

Santana v Hampton is our game 1 pitching matchup with Pedro v Reyes for game 2. Looks like good weather and 6 plus hours of baseball.

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New York

After a successful night of sleep (minus Izzy snoring) we have arrived in NJ. We are waiting for the bus into the city where we will enjoy some city sights before heading to Queens.

Matt did an excellent job driving through the Bronx and the George Washington Bridge.

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Fenway Friday Night

We got a little damp before the game...but our seats are well under the overhang behind 3rd Base. After a 40 minute rain delay, the game got underway. It rained most of the game, but they got in all 9 innings.

It was great to visit Fenway, see the Sox and watch a good game...but it was tempered by the fact that my cousin was riding out Hurricane Ike in her bathroom in Sugarland TX. My grandfather is still in the hospital too...staying in touch via text and cell helped a bit.

We are up and heading to NYC for an unexpected Mets double header. So it's time to get some grub and hit the road.

Peace

Red Sox win

And we are hitting the road to get half way to New York City.

Rain has stopped

We are in the 8th inning and the rain has stopped. Red Sox are up 4 - 0 behind a strong pitching performance by Tim Wakefield. We'll see if he can complete the shutout.

Looks like we will see a doubleheader at Shea Stadium tomorrow due to the Mets being rained out tonight.

Stay tuned.

1st pitch

After a 40 minute delay, Tim Wakefield delivers the first pitch. Still raining but the game is on.

Red Sox

Well we made it to Fenway and it is raining. Looks like we might be destined for a rain delay at some point tonight. If so I am sure we will find plenty to eat and drink in Boston.

Rain has stopped

Two hours later and the rain has stopped for now. So far only one bathroom break and we'll soon be stopping for lunch.

Raining

We have been in the car for 2 hours and two things have been happening the entire time. First it is raining constantly and second Izzy has talked without ceasing.

Fun so far.


BAE SYSTEMS

Road trip, road trip, road trip...

We leave at 9 AM for Boston...should be in Boston by dinner time. Look for updates from the road...

Paralympics 2008

The Paralympics are underway currently and the US currently is 3rd in the medal count. China continues to dominate with the UK in 2nd place at time of this posting.

Records that we missed by a few days

Gary Sheffield hit the 250,000 home run in MLB history last night. We missed it by a few days.

When a young fan shouted "Play Ball" on May 15, 2003, to start the Red Sox game against the Texas Rangers who could have dreamed that was the first of 456 consecutive regular season sellouts - a new, all-time Major League Baseball sellout streak record. Again, we missed it by a few days...

Wow...A Beatdown beyond Belief

From the news wire...The worst team in international sport?

Bulgaria were beaten 82-0 by Slovakia in a women's ice hockey qualifier for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Bulgaria conceded a goal every 44 seconds in the Latvian town of Liepaja. They trailed 7-0 after five minutes, 19-0 after ten and 31-0 after one period.

In their previous matches, they had lost 30-1 to Croatia and 41-0 to Italy.

Bulgaria has a population of 7.4 million but only three indoor ice rinks and 37 registered female players.

SOME OF THE BIGGEST DEFEATS IN SPORTING HISTORY:
Soccer: Bon Accord suffered the worst defeat in any British senior match, losing 36-0 to Arbroath on September 12, 1885 in a first round match of the Scottish Cup. Thirteen goals were scored by centre-forward John Petrie.

Soccer: The highest international football scoreline is Australia's 31-0 win over American Samoa in 2001 with a record 13 goals for Aussie striker Archie Thompson.

Cricket: England beat Australia by an innings and 579 runs at The Oval in August 1938. The home side posted an innings of 903-7 declared before a Bradman-less Australia were all out for 201 and just 123.

Rugby Union: Australia scored 22 tries in their game versus Namibia at the 2003 World Cup, winning 142-0.

American Football: The record score is the 220-0 pasting given to college side Cumberland by Georgia Tech in 1916.

Baseball: Japanese high school Kawamoto Technical School side forfeited a game versus Shusukan when trailing 66-0 after just two innings.

Ballpark Rankings by Sports Illustrated

Thought this was interesting...SI did an evaluation similar to us in 2007. Check it out here.

A Few More Photos

Karl (the one in the hat)

Izzy (not wearing a collared shirt) Trying to steal some ice cream from his kids.

The fellas...

So here's the crew before the trip...

Jeff (the tall one in this photo)...

Matt (the one without sunglasses)

Karl (not sure what to say)

Izzy (the old, skinny dude)

Another roadtrip...

These guys are going to be at the same games we are. Check out their site at http://32togo.wordpress.com/

250,000 HRs in Baseball History

Looks like tonight someone will hit the 250,000 homerun in baseball history...

249,996 HR in MLB History
Through 9:13 EDT, Sunday. #249,996: Carlos Delgado (NYM) off Cole Hamels (PHI), Sept. 7.

We could go to a game tonight and see history.

Pitching Matchups

Here's what we might see...

Friday, September 12
Red Sox vs. Jays
Probable matchup: Tim Wakefield vs. David Purcey

Saturday, September 13
Mets vs. Braves
Probable matchup: Pedro Martinez vs. Jo-Jo Reyes

Sunday, September 14
Yankees vs. Rays
Probable matchup: Carl Pavano vs. Edwin Jackson

Weather

Here's the forecast...

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 78.

Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 79

4 more days...

There's a lot to do on the work-front before we leave...I have quite a few projects open, and lots of billing to do. We roll out of town Friday AM after getting the little ones on the bus and off to school. We should arrive in Boston a few hours before the game.

BTW - we will be driving Renninger's Hyundai on the trip - it proves to be best balance of reliability and fuel economy...and a modest compromise on comfort :)

Stay tuned for more updates - including pictures from the road!

1 week to go...

We are down to one week before the 2008 baseball road trip...