Dustin and I left his house in Denver at 10:07 pm on Thursday night, and we made it to Phoenix by 10:18 am on Friday morning (we gained an hour so it took just over 13 hours). Dustin drove the first leg, I the second, and Dustin the last 148 miles. In all I drove 434 miles and Dustin 396, so we divvied it up pretty evenly. We took I-70 West into Utah, then 191 south into Arizona, where we jumped on 160 and eventually I-17. When we got to Moab, Utah, we hit some gusty winds and I was almost blown over when we stopped for gas at one point. By almost I mean I was standing and had to take a step, so maybe blown over was an exaggeration.

When we were getting into Phoenix I called the Holiday Inn we’re staying at and asked if we could check in early, and the receptionist said we couldn’t. It all worked out because Dustin and I went to iHop for some breakfast. At 11:20 we got to the hotel and by that time we were able to check into our room. We were both exhausted and we napped until 3:00 pm. This picture is of the exterior of our hotel, I thought the balcony things looked like cheese, so it made me feel at home.

We jumped on the Metro rail at 3:45, and we were in front of Chase Field in less than 15 minutes. Chase Field doesn’t really have a welcoming home plate entrance, and the Chase Field sign is located out past centerfield. I guess this will have to do for game photo number 45.

We had some time before the park opened, so we wandered around the exterior and I took some pictures. We went to my right in the picture above, and after turning the corner of the stadium there were gates and fences that prevented us from going around the stadium in it’s entirety. We walked back around the centerfield portion and made our way down the third base side of Chase Field. Going clockwise from top left, the four parter below is:

1) The Diamondback’s Mission Statement plaque, and statue in the background. The plaque reads: “The Arizona Diamondbacks’ mission is to establish a winning tradition that embodies the genuine spirit of baseball; an organization to which all Arizonans will point with pride, which conducts its business with integrity and community responsibility; so that Arizona’s children will grow up knowing the rich tradition that has made baseball America’s national pastime.” I think the statue is of a few fans getting an autograph from a player (the back of his jersey is just Arizona – 98), so it’s no one in particular.

2) Three giant bats standing on the handles near the left field corner of Chase Field.

3) Awnings that span from the left field corner down to the first base entrance. There are fans hanging from the structure as well, and the shade provides a nice respite when it inevitably gets hot under the Arizona sun.

4) The “home plate entrance” I put it in quotes because I don’t think it’s a true home plate entrance since it’s really around first base. There is no traditional home plate entrance (behind home plate), otherwise I would’ve gotten my picture outside of it.

Do you see the structure on the lower right side of picture number 4 above (on the lower left)? That’s some sort of contraption, and Dustin and I don’t know what purpose it serves. Whatever it is, it is encased in glass, and it has lots of moving parts. I took a picture of what is inside (below). There were lots of baseball sized balls going every which way, and you can see a few of them being lifted on the left side of the photo.

The exterior of the stadium isn’t all that exciting, but neither is Miller Park’s, so I can’t bash it too much. Four more pictures, going clockwise from top left.

1) The southwest corner of Chase Field, as seen from a skywalk the leads to a parking garage, you can see the other skywalk on the right side of the picture.

2) The view from the skywalk I took the first picture from, this one looking south, the parking garage is on the left.

3) Just inside the gates of the stadium they showcase their Micky Mouse statue, from when the Angels hosted the All-Star game, and the mini Statue of Liberty from when the Yankees did. The cactus is from last year’s All-Star game, when the Diamondbacks hosted. In the middle is their World Series trophy, from when the won it all back in 2001.

4) This is looking up from where picture three was taken, on the walls of the mini atrium are murals depicting Arizona’s landscape.

Once inside the stadium we walked around and then took in the Brewers portion of batting practice. We sat/stood in left-center field, and it’s a great spot to take in a game. You can see Tim Dillard in the lower left hand corner of the picture below. When batting practice was getting started he made his way to the outfield to shag balls and throw them back in, something all relievers do to some degree. Tim Dillard can do a good Harry Caray impersonation, and I can do a decent one. I yelled “TIM!” until he turned to look at me, and then I shouted in my best Caray voice “HEY, IF YOU WERE A HOT DOG, WOULD YOU EAT YOURSELF? BECAUSE I WOULD, I’D PUT MUSTARD ON ME!” That comes from a Saturday Night Live skit when Will Ferrell does a Harry Caray parody. Dillard acknowledged my impersonation and made the face that goes with his Caray impersonation (something that I cannot do). It was funny and cool at the same time.

After batting practice we walked the third base side to see what they had on the menu. Another four parter below, clockwise from top left:

1) A sign that we saw, I had to do a double take, $4 beer!?!?! They sell $4 fourteen ounce drafts of select beers. That’s the cheapest beer you’ll find at a game anywhere in a MLB stadium. They also have value menu items at certain concession stands. $1.50 hot dogs, $1.50 corn dogs, and a few other bargain-priced items. I wound up having a hot dog, a corn dog, and a beer, which came to a whopping $7. Dustin returned to the concession stands later in the game and I had another corn dog and another beer. So in all I had a hot dog, two corn dogs, and two 14 ounce beers, for $11.50! Well played, D-Backs, well played.

2) We were sitting in the left field bleachers for Friday’s game. While waiting for first pitch a few D-Back employees came out and started vacuuming the field. I’ve seen it before, I think, but it’s still funny (to me anyways). I think they’re mainly getting sunflower seed shells, but I’m sure they remove any foreign object.

3) A fan below us waving a Diamondback’s flag. Apparently large flags are allowed, because we saw a few other fans with decent sized flagpoles and flags.

4) A fan in the upper deck, waving some sort of ribbon, which reminds me of Will Ferrell in Old School, when he does the ribbon routine towards the end of the movie. As you can see, to the ladies’ right are even more flags and ribbons (I’m assuming she’s a regular). They showed her on the jumbotron a few times, and she was trying to get the crowd excited.

The game got underway at the scheduled time of 6:40, and the Brewers got on the board early, on a solo home run by Rickie Weeks in the second inning. The Crew added three more in the fourth, two via a Braun home run, the other on a single from Izturis. Izturis later left the game with an injured quad, and is now on the disabled list. At this rate the Brewers will be fielding a AAA infield by the All-Star break. The D-Backs got one back in the fourth on a it’s-my-birthday-I’m-gonna-hit-a-home-run-to-celebrate dinger from Jason Kubel. The Brewers tacked on two in the eighth and one in the ninth, and that concluded the scoring. Final Score: Brewers 7 – Diamondbacks 1.

A few more things from the game, again going clockwise from top left.

1) Just before the game was set to start they began opening the roof. It was still 91 degrees when the game started, but it didn’t feel that hot. With a nice breeze it was probably the most comfortable I’ve been at a game this year.

2) The roof after it was opened all the way.

3) After home runs they turn on some fountains in the pool area. Yes, there’s a pool in Chase Field. I’ll get a better picture of the pool today, because you can’t really see it in this picture.

4) It’s no sausage race, but their retired player race is pretty good, albeit staged. The running gag is that Mark Grace (in purple) never wins. In this race he got out to a big lead, started skipping and celebrating then was passed by Randy Johnson. Grace wound up tripping and falling down (on purpose), while Randy Johnson got the win.

It was fireworks night at the ballpark, and after the game Dustin and I went to the upper deck. It was a short show, but it was still cool to see some fireworks in a different setting. The picture isn’t that great, but I’m sure you all know what fireworks look like.

I missed two pitches at this game, and I’m disappointed in myself. The first was the fourth pitch to Ryan Braun in the 5th inning. Another intentional walk mental lapse on my part. After I saw the third pitch was an intentional ball, I started reading the scoreboard, and missed the 3-0 pitch. I also missed the first 0-2 pitch to Aaron Hill in the bottom of the eighth. I was reading and then returning a text, and looked up after he hit the foul ball. Walsh had wanted to see a new record streak, but I’ll have to be more disciplined if it’s going to happen on the road trip.

Personal Stats:

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I was up until 2:00 am writing the post for Tuesday, and I didn’t get to bed until 2:45. I got up at 8:20 and was on the road by 9:28. I’m usually a last minute packer, but I got most of it done when I got home from Tuesday’s game. I really need to start making a checklist so I don’t forget anything, because I always seem to do just that. I was in the parking lot by 10:35, and started going around and telling some people about my mission. A few people vaguely remember hearing something about a guy going to all 162, but the lack of knowledge regarding what I’m doing just confirms (for me anyways) that I should be going tailgate to tailgate before games to spread the word.

I was inside Miller Park by 11:05, and I headed straight for section 234, where I got my game number photo taken. It took a little bit to find a setting where we could override the automatic flash. The field was bright but I wasn’t in the sun, so for the first few pictures I was basically just a shadow.

I had lots of time to kill before the game, and spent a lot of it searching for a condiment stand that didn’t have one problem or another. I got two more $1 hot dogs, bringing my total to 8 for the three games of Spring Madness. The first stand I was able to get everything but mustard, because the dispenser was not working. The next closest stand also had a broken mustard dispenser. At another stand I was waiting for the guy before me to finish up putting onions on his hot dog, but he then proceeded to drop the tongs on the ground. He picked them up, wiped them off with a napkin, and then put them back in the onions. I know this stuff probably happens all the time, but when I see it happen I’m not going to eat anything that touches those tongs.

I spent the last few minutes before the game standing (just in the shade), in front of the press box. I knew that I would be in the sun for at least on hour and a half, so I wanted at least a little bit of time in the shade. As I was getting to my seat Charles Woodson was being introduced to throw out a first pitch. I didn’t have my zoom lens on my camera yet, so this will have to do.

The game got underway and the Brewers had a great first inning. Marco Estrada retired the first three Giants in order, and only needed 10 pitches to do so. The Brewers then got on the board quickly with six runs in the bottom of the inning. Two Giants errors helped the Crew out, and only two of the runs in the first were earned. Estrada hit a double to plate the final two runs of the inning but pulled up with a hip flexor strain. He actually injured himself as he was getting to first, but still made his way to second base. The Brewers were forced to go to the bullpen for eight innings, and luckily the off day on Thursday will give the pen some rest. In the second inning the Brewers added two runs on a Jonathan Lucroy home run to left. Here’s Lucroy coming out of the roof’s shadow and into the light. He is raking right now and I hope it continues. I recommend voting for him for the All-Star Game, he is very deserving (as is Braun).

With the injury to Estrada and all the runs that were scored in the first two innings, the game was dragging along, which made me nervous. It was a 12:10 start time, and my flight to Denver was scheduled to depart at 6:20. It doesn’t sound like a problem but if the game went to extras or if it just took forever I could have been cutting it close. The Giants made it interesting after scoring three in the third and two in the fourth, and the lead was just three. The game quickened as it got later (which is usually the opposite of how it goes). Jose Veras retired all six batters he faced, and only needed 22 pitches to get through the sixth and seventh. When a starter doesn’t qualify for a win (by not pitching at least five innings) the official scorekeeper can basically decide who deserved the win, and he awarded it to Veras. Axford came on in the ninth, and retired the side with just 11 pitches, including two via the strikeout. My last picture of the day is of Axford delivering a pitch in the ninth with his hair flailing behind him.

I left Miller Park at 3:40, and returned to an unlocked car. Earlier in the game I started to wonder if I had left my car unlocked, and my inkling was confirmed. I got really lucky that no one was going around checking for stuff. Nothing was visible in the cabin, but I did have my laptop and iPad in the trunk (in my suitcase). A let out a huge sigh of relief when I opened my suitcase to find my stuff. I would not have forgiven myself for that one. Normally I hit the lock button on the driver side door as I’m getting out, but today I went to the porta potty before walking the parking lot. I went to the bathroom and then came back for my camera and drawstring bag, so I just went to the passenger side. This is what happens when you break traditions.

I made it to the airport in plenty of time, and everything went as planned. As I write this I’m sitting on my good friend Dustin’s couch in downtown Denver. We’re taking a Coors Field tour tomorrow, then lunch, and then a Coors Brewery tour. We’ll be driving through the night tomorrow, and should be to our hotel in Phoenix by noon on Friday.

Personal Stats:

Daily:

Since I got home so late, errrr, early, on Tuesday after Monday’s marathon, I was in bed until 11:00 am, then got up and wrote the blog post for Monday’s game. I made breakfast/lunch and it was amazing. I’ve been making it for a while now, but it’s just as good the 50th time as it was the first. I take a polish sausage and slice it into sections, so they’ll lay nicely on bread, then fry on egg, sauté some onions (and sometimes mushrooms), and throw the polish pieces on the skillet as well. When all that goodness is about done I toast some Brownberry whole wheat bread, put a little bit of mayo on both sides, and add some Frank’s Red hot on top. After the egg has been flipped and I know it will be done soon, I put a slice of cheese on the egg, turn off the stove, and cover the pan, which melts the cheese to perfection. Clockwise from top left is how it starts, top right is nearing completion, and the bottom picture is right before consumption. The sandwich is a little blurry, and I think I was in such a hurry to eat it that I forgot to hold still.

I started getting ready for the game and packing for the upcoming road trip after I finished my breakfast-lunch. I left the house at 4:00 pm and pulled into the Brewers 1 parking lot at 5:13. I then spent 30-40 minutes traversing the parking lots handing out my business cards, and telling people about Be The Match. I worked my way inside at 6:00 and headed for the loge level. I went to section 236 for game photo number 43, and a nearby fan (who I learned is in the registry, yay!) took the picture for me.

I had left the other ticket at will call for the Twitter auction winner, Jeff. Mark “The Doorman” had graciously given me his two tickets for Tuesday’s game, and I auctioned one of them off on Twitter. Jeff was the high bidder with an $85 offer, and I’ll be donating the money to Be The Match. I had also sold my two tickets for $40 to Tuesday’s game, so that and the $20 from last Friday means I’ll be making a $145 donation on behalf of those people who purchased the tickets. Thanks Guys!!!

Jeff was already keeping the Doorman’s seat warm for me, and I made my way to the seats around 6:50. I got a fan behind us to take a picture of me and Jeff. Jeff lives in Northern Illinois, but has been a Brewers fan his whole life. He told me that when he was a kid, it was easier to come up to County Stadium than it was to go to Wrigley or Comiskey, so the Brewers became his team. He’s a great guy and I’m glad I got to spend a game with him in some awesome seats.

The game got underway and it was another rough start for the Crew. A ground rule double and a sacrifice fly each drove in a run for the Giants, and the Brewers were in a 2-0 hole after the top of the first. Bernie Brewer always goes down his slide when the Brewers are coming to bat in the first inning, and this time I got him mid-slide.

Aoki led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple, which gave the Brewers an 85.3% chance of scoring at least one run in the inning. Nyjer Morgan lifted one to left, but Cabrera gunned down Aoki at the plate. I know Aoki is blurry, but I still like the picture because the ump and Posey are frozen pretty good, and Aoki is the only one moving (or so it seems).

In the fourth inning I took a picture of the view of home plate from the Doorman’s seat, not too shabby I must say. Unfortunately me taking the picture must have been bad luck, because later in the at bat the guy at the plate (Joaquin Arias) hit his first major league home run. It was a two-run homer and the Giants took a commanding 4-0 lead with their Ace on the mound.

In the bottom of the fourth the Brewers answered when Weeks lined a scorching double to center that drove in two. The Giants got both of the runs back in the sixth when Buster Posey (below) hit a two run home run. This is Posey making sure his helmet is on right prior to his sixth inning at bat.

Between the top and bottom of the sixth inning the sausage race takes place, and Tuesday was no different. The four parter below explains what all went down. Going clockwise from top left:

1) The sausages getting love from the fans (while silently posturing that they’re going to be victorious)

2) The Polish sausage taking an early lead on the other encased meats.

3)Polish still in the lead, as Chorizo wonders how other sausages could be winning since he has the most kick.

4) The sausages after they’ve crossed the finish line (Italian had a comeback win), while Chorizo struggles to make it off the field.

The sausage race didn’t immediately spark a rally, but one inning later the Brewers put two on the board and cut the deficit to just two runs. Unfortunately that would be as close as they could get and the Giants hung on for the win. Final Score: Giants 6 – Brewers 4. The Brewers tagged Matt Cain with four runs on eleven hits, but couldn’t get the W. Talk about frustrating. What makes it worse is that the Giants only had five hits, you read that right, FIVE, and scored SIX runs. The Giants only walked three times, but two of those runners scored, and that’s the difference in the ball game.

One last picture, I had posted a nice picture of Lucroy from Saturday’s game, and he tore it up on Sunday with two home runs and seven RBIs. I don’t think he needs it, but I’ll include this one of at the dish in the sixth inning, just for good measure.

It’s past 2:00 am, and I need to get some sleep. First pitch is in about 10 hours, and then it’s off to MKE to catch a 6:20 flight to Denver. I’ll be spending tomorrow (Thursday) with my friend Dustin, and then we’re driving from Denver to Phoenix for the weekend series. It’ll then be off to Los Angeles for the four game set with the Dodgers.

Personal Stats:

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Night games after day games are nice, and typically provide a good 27 hours between pitches. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every minute of this being my “job”, but it’s nice to get a little bit of a break.

Monday’s game I went with Dong Hoon Lee, and his girlfriend Chrismare (pronounced Chris-Marie). Dong was an exchange student from South Korea when I was a senior, and his host parents’ son was a good friend of mine. Dong became a good friend throughout my senior year, despite the fact that he was two years younger. After he spent a year in Fort Atkinson, he attended a school in California for his junior and senior years, and graduated in 2007. He returned to Wisconsin and attended UW-Whitewater, where one of his original host parents (Brian Borland) serves as the defensive coordinator for the currently two time defending National Champions in Division III Football. After a year at UWW, he returned to South Korea to serve the mandatory two years in military, and is now back at UWW working towards his degree. The video below was recorded in either late 2004 or early 2005. I had a class that required me to interview somebody, and one of the options was non-verbal messages. The second part was not part of the interview (we had found out that Dong was quite ticklish). We weren’t hazing or making fun of him, and I did use the video for the project, just not the extracurricular activities. At the 2:31 mark Dong gets back at Josh (Choshee), with his teeth. You might remember Josh from joining me at a few other games this year, and he’s pictured here, second from the right.

Back to today. I met Dong and Chrismare (who is from South Africa) at the Pine Cone in Johnson Creek. We drove to Milwaukee and caught up on what’s been going on and how the trip has been going. Dong and Chrismare are actually going to embark on a quest of their own starting on Sunday. They’re taking part in the 4K for cancer, the 4k doesn’t stand for four kilometers, but FOUR THOUSAND MILES! The event has been held annually since 2002 and the trip takes them from Baltimore to San Francisco over the course of about 70 days. Straight from 4kforcancer.org: “The 90 plus college students who cycle with us each summer embark on more than just a cross country bike ride; they also support our host communities by visiting cancer patients, taking part in community dinners, and giving cancer awareness presentations.” It’s a great cause and Dong was able to raise $4,550 for the ride, with most of that going to 4K For Cancer and their charities.

We pulled into the Brewers 1 lot at 5:22, and I spent some time handing out business cards and trying to get people involved. I also did a live on-air interview with The Big 1070, which is one of Madison’s Sports Radio stations. I talked about what I’m doing and why, how it’s going so far, and that I was trying to auction off a great seat to Tuesday’s game. They repeated my twitter handle twice on air, but I’m guessing their audience is either not on twitter, or they just didn’t care about it, because I gained one follower after I was on the air (and zero bids). I was hoping to get more for the ticket than the $82.11 that I got, but anything is better than nothing. I’m grateful for Mark The Doorman who donated the tickets, and for Jeff, who had the winning bid.

We got into Miller Park just after 6:00 pm, and went over to the left field corner of the loge level to get game photo number 42. Luckily the sun was hiding behind the closed roof panels, otherwise it would have been almost impossible to get a decent picture. Next month at the same time (6:10 pm) the sun will be blinding for people trying to track balls during batting practice, and it can be quite dangerous.

We had a lot of time to kill before first pitch, so we walked around the concourse on the loge level. I bought one $1 hot dog near section 225, and we continued around to the right field corner, where we each purchased two $1 hot dogs. Monday-Wednesday is Spring Madness at Miller Park; $38 and cheaper seats are half price, and small hot dogs and kids sodas are $1 a piece. One of them posed nicely for a picture as we sat down to eat in the loge bleachers in right field. I put everything on my dogs; there’s ketchup, Koops brown mustard, onions, relish, and sauerkraut.

The three of us made it to our seats and relaxed as we waited for the game to start. Chrismare had only been to baseball games in South Korea while visiting Dong, so this was her first MLB experience. She said she enjoyed herself, despite it being a somewhat boring game (on some people’s scorecards). As great as Sunday’s game had started for the Brewers, it was equally as bad on Tuesday. Randy Wolf walked two batters in the first inning, then gave up a 3-run home run to the Giant’s Buster Posey. The game remained 3-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when an RBI double by Aramaris Ramirez cut the lead to two runs. It was still 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, and Maysonet and Hart were out on strikes with a total of seven pitches between them. That’s when Norichika Aoki reached first on a fielding error by the Giant’s shortstop. The Giants manager left the starter (a lefty) in to face Braun, and Ryan made him pay. On a 1-2 pitch Braun cranked a massive game tying two run home run to left center, and it was a game again. The Brewers reported on the jumbotron that the ball traveled 459 feet, but I go to Hit Tracker Online for what I believe to be more accurate estimates (they claimed 437 feet for the home run). As Braun was halfway between third and home on his trot I pulled out my camera and got a picture, as the fireworks were still being fired, good stuff.

After the eighth inning fireworks there wasn’t too much to get excited about. The game wound up going to the 14th inning, but the Brewers never really got themselves in a position to win the game. I believe only once did a baserunner reach 2nd base after Braun’s Home Run. The second pitch of the top of the 14th result in a solo home run off the bat of Hector Sanchez, and that concluded the scoring. Final Score: Giants 4 – Brewers 3. The two teams combined to strike out 30 times, and record only 14 hits (and 14 walks). Overall the two teams batted .144 (14/97), over the game’s fourteen innings. Lack of offense on both sides, I don’t mind it because it’s part of the game, but a lot of people left as the game went to extras and by the time the game was over there had to be about 5,000 people left of the announced crowd of 31,000.

During the game I had a lady behind me take a picture of the three of us. From left to right it’s myself, Chrismare, and Dong.

Now some unfortunate news; I’m almost positive my knee pain has been stemming from an MCL tear. At some point in the game, probably extras, I quickly got up to chase what I thought would be a nearby foul ball. An immediate sharp pain on the medial side of my left knew stopped me in my tracks. It was painful, but didn’t realize how painful until I tried to race up the steps to get another hot dog later in the game. I got about two steps before I realized I wasn’t going anywhere, and had to rely heavily on the railing to get bak to my seat. I read up on MCL injuries when I got home and they usually start with a small bruise on the medial part of the knee (what I had when it first started hurting). I’m thinking it was a grade one injury, but then all the miles that I’ve put on it and the quick movement yesterday made it more severe. Rest is the only real solution, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen. If you see me gimping around Miller Park trying to not bend my knee, you’ll know why. Don’t worry though, Dong went up and got us each another hot dog, making it four for each of us, and two for Chrismare.

I’m leaving for the game in about three hours, and it should be another low scoring affair. Matt Cain (2.67 ERA) is pitching for the Giants and Shaun Marcum (3.31 ERA) for the Brewers.

Personal Stats:

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I was nervous heading into today’s game, and afraid of a possible sweep at the hands of the team with the worst record in the majors. I could sum up the entire day with this linescore, but I’ll explain the rest of the day as well.

Victoria joined me for the game again, and we met in Johnson Creek at 11:00 am. We made our way to Miller Park and pulled into the Cooooooper lot at 11:43. I got the 2,500 “business” cards printed and received them in the mail last week, and I’ve started handing them out. I figure the best time to do it is before the game, and while people are tailgating. I’ll be giving some out during the game and afterwards, but not many. I’m too focused on the game and I don’t want it to be a distraction, either for myself or other fans. It’s really hit or miss with people, but that is to be expected. I start by asking if they’ve heard of the guy going to all 162 games, and then say “that’s me!”, or something along those lines. Some people seem completely disinterested, and don’t even ask a single question, and it makes it really awkward. The last group (of 6 to 8 people) I talked to had heard about me, and were genuinely excited to meet me. I told them a little about myself, and how they could help out, and I think a few of them are going to be joining the registry. We saw them on our way back to the car after the game, and they told me they loved what I was doing, and told Victoria that “he is very personable!” It felt great to see in person someone else’s reaction to what I’m doing.

Before heading into the stadium I stopped to take a picture of the statue that faces the home plate entrance. The three individuals pictured below lost their lives on July 14, 1999, when a crane holding one of the roof sections collapsed. It was a horrible accident and resulted in a lawsuit that paid out $95 million. The accident delayed the opening of Miller Park until 2001 (it was originally scheduled to open in 2000). I think it’s commendable that the Brewers put the statue up, recognized what happened, and didn’t try to bury it in the past.

Victoria and I were inside Miller Park by 12:15, and went over to section 238, where I started my progression back around the stadium in the loge level.

After stopping saying hi to the Ice Man and Bill (the friendly vendor in 216) again, we made it to our seats in time for the national anthem. I got the BBQ brisket sandwich again, and was extremely disappointed with the amount of fat he included in my sandwich. I wish I would’ve taken a picture of all the fat I picked off the meat before eating it, it had to be at least 50-75 grams of fat. I know that I could probably use the extra weight, but I don’t want to do it by eating massive amounts of fat.

The game started and I was thinking “here we go again”, after Greinke gave up two hits and a run in the top of the first. That sentiment quickly changed after the Brewers scored two runs in the first on solo home runs by Chart and Lucroy. It got even better as the Crew tacked on six runs on six hits in the bottom of the second. All the runs in the second came with two outs, and just like that the Brewers had an 8-1 lead. After the eighth run scored the Twins pulled the starter Marquis. The reliever who came in retired Izturis, who was responsible for 2 of the 3 outs in the inning.

When Marquis was getting shelled I thought back to April 18th, 2010, when he was pitching for the Nationals. I was in D.C. for the Brewers-Nationals series, and Marquis didn’t retire a single batter, giving up 4 hits and 7 runs before being removed. Craig Counsell hit a grand slam later in the inning, and the Brewers wound up with 10 runs in the opening frame.

Back to today’s game. The Brewers added two in the fourth, one in the fifth, then put a five-spot on the board in the seventh. Jonathan Lucroy hit a grand slam in the five-run seventh, and it capped an amazing day at the plate. His final line consisted of 3 hits (including 2 home runs), 3 runs scored, and SEVEN runs batted in, which ties a Brewers club record. The two outs of his were hard hit balls that could have easily fallen (one was a diving catch), and both would have driven in runs, which would have given him the outright Brewers single game RBI record. Looks like me posting the picture of him yesterday payed some dividends. You’re welcome LUUUUUUUUUUC!!

The game got so lopsided that this happened:

It probably just looks like a guy pitching, but this was the Twins backup catcher (Drew Butera, pitching in the bottom of the eighth). For you non-baseball junkies, this happens from time to time. If a team is getting killed they’ll have a position player come in and pitch an inning to help save a taxed bullpen. Apparently they should’ve had Butera start the game, because he retired three of the four batters he faced, and got out of the inning without giving up a run. One of the three outs was a strikeout of Carlos Gomez, which of course was Butera’s first career strikeout as a pitcher. All around it was an entertaining day, and the Brewers needed the win. It’s unfortunate that it only counts as one win. Final Score: Brewers 16 – Twins 4. They outscored the Twins by three runs in the series, and yet lost two out of three games.

One last picture, during the seventh inning the roof began to close, and I snapped a picture as the two sides were nearing. I think it’s always fun to watch, while pitches aren’t being thrown, of course.

I did miss two pitches during the game, AGAIN! That’s back to back two-pitches-missed games; unforgivable! The first came in the fifth inning during Braun’s at bat (even more unforgivable). I was tweeting that the season had just past the quarter point of the season. Between the top and bottom of the fifth inning marked the 1/4 point (40.5 games out of 162). I also missed the 0-1 pitch to Trevor Plouffe in the top of the eighth, I was talking with Victoria about cameras, and got distracted. I will do my best to prevent these lapses in the future.

Big series with the Giants starting tomorrow, and the Brewers face the tough Matt Cain on Tuesday, so it should be interesting. Speaking of Tuesday’s game. I’m assuming some readers don’t have twitter, or just aren’t following me @Brew_Mission162 yet, but I’m auctioning off a great seat for the game. The Doorman (the guy who sits right behind the opposing teams tunnel leading up to the clubhouse) gave me his two seats for the game, and I’m accepting bids for one of them. You’d be sitting next to me, and would likely be on TV a few times, since the broadcasts use the feed from the first base side cameras as right handed batters come to the plate. I’m donating all the proceeds to Be The Match, and I’m hoping we can make a decent-sized donation. The face value on the ticket is $100, but I have no idea what’s going to come of it. If you’re interested in the ticket, but don’t have a twitter account, just make a comment in this post with what you’d be willing to pay, and I’ll email you back if you’re the high bidder. I’m closing the bidding at noon on Tuesday afternoon.

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Saturday was originally going to be just Victoria and myself but a mutual friend, Megan, called and said she had gotten tickets. Megan was another Gilman House resident during the ’05-’06 school year at UW-Madison. Victoria and Megan stayed in the dorms during their sophomore year and became roommates for the ’06-’07 school year. Megan just graduated from UW’s pharmacy school, and she’s going to be working at the VA hospital in Madison as a pharmacist. Megan is a twin, and it just so happens that her boyfriend is also a twin. Her boyfriend Alex, however, is a Twins fan (he’s from Minnesota). He lives in Madison and is working towards his doctorate degree in engineering. I will give him credit though; he pays for the MLB.TV service so he can stream the Twins games. Even though they’re the enemy six games a year, I can respect his fan-hood.

Megan and Alex met Victoria in Madison, I met them in Johnson Creek, and we rode to Milwaukee together. Alex’s brother Mike, who was in town for Megan’s graduation, was driving separately since he was flying back to California on Sunday. Alex and Mike wound up in the general parking lot because they thought that’s what we had, so they had to walk over and meet us in the Braves Lot. We had a few beers and before heading in we had a passerby take a picture for us. Going left to right it’s Megan, myself, Victoria, Alex, and Mike.

We went to the upper deck together since that was where the three of them were sitting, but parted ways as we headed over to section 440 for the last picture from the terrace level. It’s going to get a lot more tricky to get a good picture from the loge level. Mainly because 20 minutes before the game there will be many more people in the front row of the loge level than there are in the terrace.

Victoria and I then made our way down to section 221 and got situated for the game. We did make sure to stop by and say hi to the Ice Man (the beer vendor), and Bill (the friendly usher above section 216).

The game got underway and it started out nicely, as Yovani Gallardo retired the first three Twins in order, and only needed nine pitches to do so. There wasn’t any scoring until the fourth inning, when the Twins pushed one across via the sacrifice fly. The Brewers answered in the bottom half after Nyjer Morgan singled, stole second, then eventually scored on a Lucroy single. The Twins scored a solo run in the sixth on another sacrifice fly. The Brewers answered again with a run in the bottom of the sixth on a Ryan Braun RBI single.

Solo runs by the Twins in the seventh and eighth inning gave them a 4-2 lead, and things were looking bleak. Aramis Ramiriz came through in the clutch with a two out, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth. The game went to extras after both teams failed to score in the ninth, but the Twins got a home run in the top of the eleventh, and the Brewers went quietly in the bottom of the inning. It was exciting towards the end, and nice to see that the Crew fought back, but a loss is a loss, and the losing streak has reached four games now. Final Score: Twins 5 – Brewers 4.

Greinke is on the hill tomorrow and I’m hoping he can be the stopper once again. This last picture was taken when Lucroy was coming to the plate in the bottom of the sixth. The sun was coming through the windows on the first base side in the upper deck, and created some nice long shadows on the field.

I missed two pitches during the game, and although it’s upsetting, it makes sense. The same thing had happened earlier in the year, and old habits are hard to break. In the past, when I would see the first pitch of an intentional walk, I would let my eyes wander until after he reached base, because I knew what was happening, and didn’t need to watch it. I did that twice at this game, starting with the 1-0 pitch to Morneau in the top of the sixth. Apparently I didn’t learn my lesson because I did the same thing in the bottom half, when Lucroy was intentionally walked to get to the struggling Rickie Weeks.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow is a new day and I’m holding out hope that the boys can turn it around.

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Thursday I got up around 9:00 am and I took advantage of Holiday Inn’s breakfast. I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes, a glass of orange juice, a cinnamon roll, an omelet, and a banana. I also took an apple to snack on before I left for the day. I didn’t really have plans for the day, but I passed Discovery Green the day before, and figured I could spend some time there before the game. I got there around 1:20, and spent a good hour walking around and taking pictures. What is Discovery Green? I’ll let this explain it.

If you click on the picture you’ll get a larger image, but if you don’t feel like doing that, this is what it says:

In 2004, the citizens of Houston learned that valued green space in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center was being sold by its private owners. Mayor Bill White and a group of philanthropists who had long worked to preserve this green space quickly joined together to purchase the property, add it to land already owned by the city, and create a twelve-acre park. Mayor White and City Council then conveyed the cite to the Houston Downtown Park Corporation and also charged the Discovery Green Conservancy with the planning, design, development and ongoing management of an urban park of the highest quality for both Houstonians and visitors to enjoy. With a design infused by the dreams and ideas of Houstonians, Discovery Green is dedicated to our community’s open spirit, the creativity of our citizens, the beauty of our natural heritage, and our city’s commitment to responsible stewardship of our natural environment.

It’s a nice park and I took a bunch of photos. The first four, going clockwise from top left:

1) The signage for the garden inside the park.

2) A giant one person circular bench, yes, that’s a seat there in the middle.

3) The view from the seat in photo number two. As you can see there’s another circular seat across from the one I was sitting in.

4) A water feature that’s located past the seat seen in photo number three.

There were lots of plants and flowers within the park, and some are below. They each don’t need a description. So you can look at them in whatever order you please. My personal favorite, and possibly my favorite of the day, is the one in the top left.

There was also stuff you could do while at the park. Going clockwise from top left:

1) Picnic tables where park-goers can eat.

2) This is looking out at the lawn from the Anheuser-Busch Stage, where concerts take place.

3) Kids can play in the water streams, they shoot skyward at various times.

4) The structure in the middle has water coming down from the ring at the top. I considered taking my clothes off and running around underneath it because it was hot and I was sweating, but I didn’t. I think a night in jail might lower my pitches seen percentage too much, so I didn’t want to risk it. There’s also a jungle gym on the left for kids.

There was also some art pieces. The upper left picture is of a structure that I just thought was a piece of artwork, but as you can see from the lower left picture, it has a door. If you look closely at the top left picture you can see some tiny windows, so I’m not quite sure what it’s used for, but I’m intrigued. The picture on the right is a piece that’s on display along the Avenida de las Americas, the street that runs right in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center.

After I was done at Discovery Green, I walked downtown and got a sub at Jimmy John’s for lunch. I don’t know what it was, but it just didn’t taste right. They may have not been using the freshest ingredients, but the sub left something to be desired. Jimmy John’s is on main street, and the metro rial system runs right down the middle of said street. There’s even a part where the track runs over some water, as seen below. It seems like a very quiet and comfortable ride. You can see one of the trains in the distance on the track on the right.

I went back to the hotel to get ready for the game, and I got a start on uploading all the pictures I took from Discovery Green. I left my room around 5:15, and made it to ticket window 30 to pick up my ticket by 5:30. The guy at the window said the visiting team tickets weren’t there yet, so I decided to walk around the exterior of the park to kill the time. There were things to note, and going clockwise from top left:

1) The support for the roof track down the first base side.

2) The back of the stadium, and on the right is the roof support and track for the left field side. When the roof is open the supports and windows that are visible in picture #3 would be right up close to the end of that track in photo #2. The 1st base side track is much higher, because there aren’t windows that move like they do on the left field side.

3) The centerfield entrance. On the right you can see all the windows that I was talking about. If you read yesterday’s post you can see that these panels are right behind the train track in left field.

4) KBR plaza. You can see an infielder turning a double play at second base, and a first basemen awaiting the throw. To make it even more accurate they should have a ball magically suspended in the air somewhere between the two bases.

There were two last things that I thought were interesting. On the left you have a statue of somebody, but I’m not sure who. There’s no plaque, and the only visible text is “Stewart E. Stevenson” on the anvil. A google search with that name and “Astros” doesn’t bring up anything that connects the two, so it’s a mystery right now (for me anyways). On the right is baseball stitching that separates segments of sidewalk. They have this going all around the exterior of the ballpark, and I didn’t make the observation until my second day at the stadium. The ones that I had seen up to this point weren’t as obvious as the one below, so I’ll cut myself a little bit of slack, but not much.

I went back to the will call window, got my ticket, and got inside just before six. I walked around on the field level until the Brewers finished taking batting practice, then headed to the upper deck to get game photo number 38 taken. I had an usher take the picture, and she was very patient with me, and she made some adjustments to get a picture I was satisfied with.

I went back downstairs and got my dinner before the game started. I had seen this place the night before, and on Thursday I figured it was time to have a salad at a major league stadium. I’m not sure if other parks have these, but I don’t recall any in the parks that I’ve been to so far (and that’s 17 current stadiums dating back to 2006). Going clockwise from top left:

1) The Green Fork concession stand from a distance, if you look closely you can see that the choice of greens are Romaine, Spinach, and Iceburg.

2) The vegetable choices, and there were a lot.

3) The protein choices, which cost an additional $4.

4) My $12 salad. I had a mixture of romaine and spinach, and I added mushrooms, bacon, egg, green pepper, cucumber, almonds, grilled chicken, and light ranch. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed, I really think it was because of the chicken, I’m not sure if they use leftovers from the day before, but it certainly seemed that way.

There wasn’t too much to cheer about during the game, for both teams really. The Astros scored four runs in the fourth inning, and that was it. The Brewers had a lot of opportunities to get off the schneid, but they failed to do so. They had the bases loaded in the third inning with only one out and Braun coming up. Braun popped out in foul territory on the first pitch and Ramirez grounded out weakly to third. In the fifth the Brewers had runners on second and third with two outs and Braun at the plate, but a groundout on the second pitch put on end to the scoring chance. It was that kind of night, not a blowout by any means, but still disheartening. Final Score: Astros 4 – Brewers 0. A 1-3 record on a two city road trip doesn’t feel the greatest, but things can’t continue to go this bad (or at least that’s what I’ll keep telling myself).

My flight leaves at 11:00 am from Houston on Friday, and I have a layover in St. Louis. I’m supposed to arrive in Milwaukee at 4:30 pm. I could’ve scheduled an earlier arrival, and I’ll be kicking myself if this itinerary backfires. If all goes as planned I should be to Miller Park no later than 6:00 pm for the first game with the Twins.

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After we got back to Luke’s place post-bowling, I worked on the blog post for Tuesday, and didn’t lay down until after 3:10 am. I had my alarm set for 4:15, but woke up a little before that. I gathered my stuff, called the car service, and was on my way to Laguardia by 4:25. It was a 13 minute ride and yet it cost $26. I gave him $30, but I wonder if he just said $26 because he knew I didn’t know any better.

My flight took off on time, and we got to Midway by 7:15 am. My flight to Houston was scheduled to depart at nine, and we were airborne at 9:07. We arrived at Houston Hobby Airport earlier than expected, and I was able to jump on an early bus headed downtown. The bus was automatically saying the next upcoming stops along the way, but then failed to do so when I was supposed to get off, and I went down six more blocks than I needed to. It doesn’t seem like much, but when it’s still quite painful to walk, any added distance just makes it worse.

I’m staying at the Holiday Inn on Bell Street, and it’s just a short (6/10 mile) walk to Minute Maid Park. When I got to my room I napped until around 4:30, and then decided to go to Jimmy John’s. I made the walk to the downtown location, only to discover that they close at 4:00 pm. I’m assuming since they’re downtown they really only get business at lunchtime, so it makes sense. What about people that want to grab a sub on their way home from work (or crazed baseball fans who might wander in at random times)? Did you ever take that into consideration, Jimmy?

I walked down Texas Avenue on my way to the park, and a few blocks from downtown you can see the roof of Minute Maid Park in the distance.

I had to go to the player will call window to pick up my ticket for the game, thanks again Kathy and Tyler for making this happen. On my way to ticket window 30 I came across the baseball barriers. Most all ballparks have some sort of giant baseballs outside the stadium, and Minute Maid is no different.

Once I picked up my ticket I walked around to the first base side to get game photo number 37. On the outside of stadium they have a somewhat small Minute Maid Park sign, and I asked a few nearby parking attendants if there was a bigger sign somewhere else. They didn’t think so and I was a little disappointed. I guess I would’ve expected a larger sign above the home plate entrance, but they have a clock tower instead. When asking about the sign, one of the attendants said: “You look like Justin Timberlake.” I thought she was joking but I don’t think she was. I responded with “Thank you, but I disagree.” She repeated it, and it was actually kind of awkward as I walked away. The spot to take the picture was a good 100 yards from the attendants. I didn’t want to ask them to come all the way over to take my picture, so I just used the ten second delay, and propped my camera up on my sunglasses case. It took a few tries but I got one that I’m somewhat satisfied with.

While I was wrapping up a gentleman came over and offered to help. His name was Bob, and Minute Maid Park was the 49th Major League stadium he’s been to. He still has one current stadium to visit, but I forget which. That means that he’s been to 29 current stadiums and 20 former big league parks. I’d say he was in his fifties, and you’d almost have to be to have visited all the stadiums he has. He took a few pictures for me and I returned the favor. I think the self-timer photos turned out better, including the one above, but I’m still grateful for the assistance.

The Astros also have a clock tower, similar to Miller Park’s. I’m not just being a homer, but I think the one at Miller looks a little better. The Astros’ tower is located at the home plate entrance, and not off to the side. I don’t know why they don’t have a more inviting home plate entrance, but to each his own.

I entered the stadium at 5:55, and started wandering. One of the first things I came across was a giant boot and a commemorative sign. The boots are located throughout the park, commemorating the 2004 All-Star game that the Astros hosted. The Astros franchise has been around since 1962⎯although they were the Colt .45s from 1962-1964⎯thus the 50th anniversary sign.

I took more photos as I traversed the first level (and hit up the first aid station for some ibuprofen). Going clockwise from top left, the four pictures below are:

1) The first level concourse behind section 113. I took a picture because it’s the widest first level concourse that I’ve come across. “Everything’s Bigger in Texas” holds true once again.

2) The Crawford Boxes and outfield wall in left. The Crawford Boxes are the seats to the right of the foul pole, and give batters a short porch to work with (it’s only 315 feet down the line), providing some cheap home runs. It evens out though, as the centerfield fence is 435 feet from home plate. You can also see the train on the right of this picture, I’ll discuss that later.

3) The Astros scoreboard, the second largest HD board in the majors. It’s 54 feet tall and 124 feet wide. It’s nickname is “El Grande”.

4) The retractable roof. I believe they keep it open during the day to get the grass some sunlight, but then close it if it’s going to be hot during the game. I didn’t think it was too hot, and thought they could’ve kept it open. By the time the game was over it was *only* 74 degrees outside, and I don’t think they needed the AC on for the whole game. I’m also cheap and try to not use air conditioning as much as possible, so that might be influencing my opinion. I once let my apartment reach 94 degrees, but I’ve loosened my frugality to some degree over the past few years.

They have a wide variety of food choices, but I settled for a personal favorite. One of the stands had Kielbasa, with different toppings choices to appease almost anyone. I went with the Georgia Griller, which consisted of creamy cole slaw, BBQ sauce, and onions. You have the option of a spicy kielbasa or mild, and I (of course) went with spicy. I was somewhat surprised by the $7.50 price tag, as I thought it would’ve cost more. It was worth every penny, and I was set on food for the game. I utilized their designated driver program, and also got a free lemonade. When you sign up you get a paper wristband saying “designated driver program” and two vouchers for free sodas. I only used the one, but I think it’s nice of them to offer two.

Sharon Robinson (Jackie’s daughter), escorted a fan to the mound for one of the ceremonial first pitches. I had just been to Citi Field the two days prior, where they honor Jackie with his own rotunda. It was cool to see his daughter the very next day. If you want to see my post about the rotunda, you can probably just scroll down to Monday’s post, or simply click here. Sharon Robinson is an educational consultant for Major League Baseball and oversees school and community-based educational programs. She’s done great things and reached millions of children (and adults) through her work, and I’m sure Major League Baseball is grateful to have her as a spokesperson.

The game got underway, and the Astros took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second when they singled, doubled, and singled to open the frame. They scored three more in the third, and it wasn’t looking good for the Crew. Corey Hart cut the lead to four with a solo home run in the top of the fourth. The Astros came right back and scored two in the bottom half, to take a 7-1 lead. One of the Astro runs in the fourth came on a Carlos Lee home run to left field. When an Astros player hits a home run, the train  above the Crawford Boxes (slowly) moves right to left on a track built into on top of the wall. After the train stopped, the “conductor” got out and stood there for the remainder of the inning (you can see him in the picture below). They showed him on the scoreboard trying to get people excited as he pumped his fists and yelled, I’m not sure if it worked, but it was a good effort.

You might ask: “Why a train?”, and I wouldn’t have had a good answer until I did some research. The largest entrance of the park is inside what was once Houston’s Union Station, and the train pays homage to the site’s history. I’ll have to search out the entrance today, because when you’re not really looking for it, or understand what it means, it probably isn’t the most apparent.

The Astros put another run on the board in the seventh, the Brewers scored two in the ninth, and that was all the scoring. Final Score: Astros 8 – Brewers 3. Hopefully the Brewers can turn it around and start a winning streak, a long winning streak. Players underperforming has been a problem thus far, and I’m looking forward to some bounce back as we get deeper into the season.

One last picture, it was visible in the four part picture, but it deserves a full one. As you can see, the foul pole has “Eat Mor Fowl” on it, sponsored by Chick-Fil-A. The addition to the foul poles was unveiled before the 2006 season. All their commercials revolve around cows trying to get humans to eat more chicken, and less beef, so it’s very fitting. If an Astros player hits either “fowl” pole, everyone in attendance gets a free Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich. Well played Chick-Fil-A, well played.

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