Giants lost to the Braves, but I won with my Panda hat

Friday night I ventured out to AT&T Park for my second visit.  I drove to the Hayward Park Caltrain station and decided to head to the ballpark using public transportation (i.e. rather than fight traffic and pay more to park).  Yes, it's true.  I'm not a fan of public transportation, but when I travel I like to try to figure out the best way to do these adventures and most of the time, public transportation makes more sense.  ****  It cost $3 to park at the Caltrain station and the fare was $4.50 each way.  I can almost guarantee that it'd cost more than $12 to park by the park, so already I was a winner. 

Did you know that you could bring your own alcohol and consume it on the train on the way to the baseball game?  I didn't.  Oh, and if you're underage don't try to get away with it.  The train I was on had police on it to make sure people were of age.  Further, you're not allowed to consume alcohol or have an open container on the return voyage from the ballpark.

It was a short walk to the ballpark from the Caltrain station, and the scalpers I expected were plentiful.  For a rookie buyer this can be intimidating, but if you stick to your guns and know what you want, the scalpers respect it.  I wanted a premium field club ticket and the scalpers didn't have it.  I ended up going to the box office and luckily they had a premium field club ticket for me.

As I entered the park, I went to the concession stand and bought food.  I then went through the tunnel to my seat.  My seat was 3 rows behind home plate (i.e. if you don't count the 3 rows in the Lexus area).  FANTASTIC. 

In between innings, I scooped the $20 Panda hat, that I'd been coveting since my previous visit.  I couldn't have been happier, except that the World Champion San Francisco Giants lost to the Atlanta Braves.  ****  I really don't have a preference between either team, but when I visit a venue I usually root for the "home" team.

By the way, did you know that Lou Seal has his own 2010 World Series bling also?  Check out the picture!

Giants' pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, was relieved of his pitching duties in the 3rd.  Tommy Hanson ended up leading the Braves to victory.  The final score was 4-1.







Jason Heyward cross the plate to add a Braves' run

The lone Giants' run was scored by my favorite Giant, Pablo Sandoval.  So even though, the Giants lost, my evening wasn't a bad experience.  In fact, I can't imagine ever a bad time at the most beautiful ballpark I've ever seen!

THE WIRK

Beat the Streak 2011 MLB Contest ~ Don't pick Manny Ramirez

I'm not one to play fantasy sports, but I came across this "Beat the Streak" contest for the 2011 MLB season.  The object of the contest is simple.  For each "game day" pick a player who you think will get a hit.  Be the FIRST to beat the streak of 56 games with a correct pick, and you win $5,600,000.00  Yes, that number is typed correctly.  I double-checked it.  I don't know about you, but I could use $5.6 million.

Jason Heyward at bat v the Cubs
on April 8, 2010.  He went 0-4.

So far the longest streak is 8 games.  Atlanta Braves' Jason Heyward was hitless last night against the Milwaukee Brewers and killed my streak of 4 games...  Ugh.  ****  Actualy, I just took a look at my photo files, and just last year I saw him against go hitless against the Chicago Cubs...  Great.

Good thing, I checked my upcoming picks today because I had selected Manny Ramirez for an upcoming game. With Manny's retirement announcement today, I doubt he'll be hitting again ~ period.  Don't get me wrong, I liked Manny. 

Manny Ramirez debuted with the Cleveland Indians in 1993.  1993 was also my freshman year of college, in Northeast Ohio, so I spent many a night at Jacobs Field (i.e. now named Progressive Field).  Manny was loved in Cleveland.  1993-2002 were some great days for the Cleveland Indians.  Those were the days of David Justice, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Sandy Alomar, Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez...  I'm sure I'm forgetting some folks, but you know what I'm talking about.

Come to think of it, my best friend (i.e. Chubs) had a picture of Manny Ramirez in his spare bedroom.  He loved that picture.  It may have even been autographed.  Oh well. 

Manny Ramirez at bat v Pirates, April 30, 2010

The last time I saw Manny Ramirez play was less than a year ago against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In addition to it being my first time at Dodgers Stadium, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar threw out the ceremonial first pitch.  ****  Kareem's presence made the game extra special for me since I'm an "old school" Laker fan.

But I digress...  So, let's get back to this blog post's topic.

Play the Beat the Streak contest and test your luck.  Further, with ANOTHER announcement of an issue relating to baseball's drug policy, it's hard to love a cheater ~ especially a cheater who's calling it quits.  Therefore, if you have Manny in any of your fantasy baseball contests, replace him now.


THE WIRK

The Cubs defeat the Braves @ Turner Field ~ Chipper Jones leaves the game injured

I love Atlanta.  I used to live here, and tonight I kicked off baseball season with a visit to Turner Field.  ****I like to make my travels transparent so I woke up at 4AM this morning to catch a 5:45AM flight. Generally I hop the earliest flights to ensure that I can arrive at a destination and work a full day (i.e. conference calls, emails, system testing). Today, after I was done working, I was able to take advantage of the fact that I was in my other home away from home. 

Lou Piniella's Cubs were in town to play the Bobby Cox's Braves.

After a rainy day, spent inside tethered to my laptop around 7PM a friend and I venrtured over to Turner Field.  We missed the opening pitch because of the Masters' coverage, and yes - usually I'm diligent about arriving at a stadium early and being in my seat in time for the opening pitch - BUT admitteldy, I was also curious to see how Tiger would perform today.  ****For those of you that are living in under a rock he shot a 68.

Arriving at Turner Field, I honestly felt like I'd never been there before.  Nothing looked familiar.  It was very strange.  In general, I'm "anti-change".  I value consistency.  However, Atlanta is like home and I have learned to "trust" the city.

My friend scalped 2 tickets outside, while I took pictures of the Hank Aaron statue.  ****There were other statues on display, but the Hank Aaron statue was the only one that I felt compelled to photograph.

With tickets in-hand, we proceeded to our seats on the 3rd base line. 

Great seats and great weather make for a fun, relaxing night out. I sat down in my seat, with the Cubs up 1-0 and Chipper Jones at the plate, in the 3rd inning. It was perfect timing to see the Braves' star at bat and  subesequently "walk" to first base.  Unfortunately, Chipper was was forced out at third later that inning and left the game with a side injury.  Omar Infante replaced him in the line-up.  According to ESPN.com, Chipper may not play in the upcoming series of games in San Francisco against the Giants (i.e. the Braves left immediately after the game to head out of town).

Chipper's last at bat of the night ~ he'd end up walking

The Cubs scored another run in the 4th inning to go up 2-0, and that would be the last run of the game. The Braves would make the game interesting (i.e. they did have more hits than the Cubs), and subsequently the Cubs utilized pitching roster.

The Cubs changing pitchers AGAIN

Ultimately the fire power I expected to see from Jason Heyward et al, failed to translate into runs tonight.

The rookie went 0-4 tonight

Melky Cabrera at bat ~ the Braves' last chance of the game

The next home game for the Atlanta Braves is on April 16 @ 7:30PM.  The Braves will be hosting the Colorado Rockies.

@ Turner Field

That's all for now.

THE WIRK