Bad Sports

Not everything is fun and games in baseball.

Especially not for the Petaluma Gamecocks, Robert's traveling baseball club.

We just learned that their fundraising event for the summer had a very sad setback:

Fireworks thieves ruin team's holiday
By Paul Payne

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 4:30 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 9:31 a.m.

If there's such a thing as the grinch who stole July Fourth, he lives in Petaluma.
Someone nearly cleaned out a fireworks stand Tuesday night that is run by a Petaluma youth baseball club, fizzling plans to buy new bats, catcher's gear and maybe uniforms, organizers said Wednesday.
The fireworks, which had a retail value of about $13,000, were stolen from a metal storage container. They were going to be sold to support the Petaluma Gamecocks, a club for 11- to 13-year-olds.
"I think it's really mean," said Nick Bostow, an 11-year-old outfielder from Petaluma. "We're just a baseball club trying to raise money. They might as well be stealing from kids."
Police are investigating the theft on Perry Lane, which took place late Tuesday or early Wednesday, but so far have made no arrests, Lt. Matt Stapleton said.
Officers are asking for the public's help in identifying any suspects.
"Fireworks would be pretty popular for young people to get their hands on, particularly such a large quantity," Stapleton said.
The stand is one of 18 that opened Saturday in Petaluma and will continue selling state-approved fireworks through the Fourth of July holiday.
Nearly all the stands are run by nonprofit groups, and many benefit youth clubs, the elderly and athletics.
Gamecocks coach and organizer Al Bostow, Nick's father, said it was the first year his group has sold fireworks to raise money.
The goal was to subsidize fees paid by the club's 48 members, who come from all over the county, and carry teams through the season that runs from August to December.
The club had invested about $7,000 in TNT-brand fireworks and was hoping to turn a profit of about $6,000, he said. The cache was stored in the locked metal box when the stand closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
But when volunteers returned Wednesday morning, the lock was missing and most of the fireworks were gone.
The club carried fire insurance but no theft insurance, Bostow said.
"It's pretty depressing," said Bostow, who works as a crane operator on the freeway-widening project in Santa Rosa. "We had high hopes for this."
He said the handful of parents who run the club will probably have to dig into their pockets to pay back the fireworks company. The merchandise was given to them on consignment, he said.
"It's kind of tough," Bostow said. "It's really tough on the kids."
The stand will remain open until the club sells the remaining supply or gets more from the company, if it can.
Players hanging out at the stand Wednesday said they were disappointed and angry someone would steal from the club.
Taylor Richardson, an 11-year-old second baseman from Petaluma, said whoever did it should have to return the fireworks and make "a pretty good donation of about $2,000 or something."
"It's just not fair to the kids and the people who put time into it," he said.

If you would like to see a video from CBS5, click this link:

Stolen Fireworks

Robert's Sportscast

Today's game was the Philadelphia Phillies against the New York Mets. The final score was 3 to 2 in the Phillies favor. Pedro Feliz, a former Giant, hit a double and then Victorino hit a single to hit Pedro Feliz in at the bottom of the 9th. There were 2 really exciting Web-Gems in the game, one by the Right Fielder for the Phillies -his name was Werth- and the other one was by the Mets' Right Fielder Chavez. It was an exciting fourth of July. 44,922 fans watched the fireworks go off in Philadelphia and watch the Phillies win. It was the Phillies 23rd sellout this season! There were no homeruns in the game, sadly. But there were 16 hits, 13 for the Phillies and only 3 for the Mets. The Phillies gave up 4 walks and the Mets threw none. The Phillies threw 7 strikeouts, 5 swinging and 2 looking, while the Mets threw 8, 7 swinging and 1 looking. It was a very exciting Fourth of July. That's all for Robert's Sportscast.

PHILLIES

Jack got to meet the Philly Phanatic!

Tonight patriotism was the name of the game. The location couldn't be a more perfect place to celebrate our nation's Independence Day, and Philadelphians know how to do it right. There were representatives from all of our armed services, special presentations and ceremonial first pitches, and "presenting of the colors" done right! (Unfortunately for our poor, aching ears, membership in the armed services is NOT a guarantee that one can carry a tune. There were dogs howling all over Philly at both the National Anthem and God Bless America! But it didn't dampen our patriotic spirit! )

A flag made of caps!

Ben Franklin and the

Phanatic smashing a Mets cap!

Sometimes luck is a matter of perspective. When we arrived at our seats (5 rows from the top!) the usher told us the oxygen tanks would be waiting for us. At first we were missing the days of being given prime tickets. But then the rain started. And guess what? Our nosebleed seats actually were under the only available sliver of an overhang! People began donning the raingear, putting up the umbrellas, and heading for the exits, but not us! We were cozy as clams in our eagle-eye seats. And then the second stroke of good luck. We could actually see the fireworks in the city from up there! You just never know in what form luck will find you on a baseball adventure.

As always, we met wonderful people at the game. The folks sitting in front of us had driven in from New Jersey. They are BIG Mets fans. They had a lot of questions for us about our trip, and where we are headed. We now have specific (locals') directions on how to get from our hotel to the New York games on public transp. Way to go Mets fans!

Can you believe this pinball game? It was one of a couple of fun attractions that are free for kids. Carter participated in a running the bases game where he competed against some other kids by running on a pad to move a mascot symbol around a big board, but it was too big to get a good picture, so you get this one, instead.

The rally caps worked tonight, with the Phillies pulling out a win in the bottom of the 9th, making it a final score of 2-3.

Happy Fourth of July, Philladelphia!

Philly vs. Philly

No trip to Phillidelphia would be complete without trying to answer that age-old question:

Pat's or Ginos??

So, before our game we headed for Passyunk and 9th. The corner looks just like you would imagine it, with the two rivals facing each other across a sea of eager patrons. A parking place materialized in front of us, and (don't know if it was the 4th of July holiday, or just the Belove mojo) less than a half hour later we were faced with dueling piles of steaming meat and cheese ("wit-out") nestled in Hoagie rolls.

Heres's the Belove breakdown:

• Both were absolutely DELICIOUS!!!



• Neither one was remotely similar to anything we get on the West Coast called a "Philly Cheesesteak"



• Gino's is made from sliced prime rib, and was more tender. A subtle blend of the pure meat, cheese, and bread flavors.
  


• Pat's has more meat, a more flavorful roll, and had slightly more spice.



• There was really not a significant difference between them, and we would eagerly eat either one any day of the week!!

The clear winner of this game?

Philly!

Little League Heaven

To all of you who love Little League...

Welcome to Cal Sr.'s Yard. Don't you wish our fields looked like this? This park, adjacent to the Ripkin Stadium, is a Cal Ripkin League field and the site of their World Series game. It is probably one of the best Little League fields/stadiums in the country.

Wish we could play here!!!

By the way...
There's a toilet in the dugout,

and refrigerated water in water fountains!

And to all of you managers, coaches, board members, moms and dads who treasure sharing your love of baseball with the next generation... this statue is a tribute to you!

Ripkin Stadium

What serendipidy! We just happened to spot Ripkin Stadium from the freeway, and Jack said we had to stop and check it out. It is the home of the Aberdeen Ironbirds, one of the Orioles' A-level teams.

We took very few pics of it, but it is a perfect small-sized stadium that rivals many major league fields we have seen. We had a fun time touring the grounds and doing a little shopping in the gift shop. You just never know what you might find on a baseball adventure!

Washington D.C.

No, not on the baseball tour. But how can we be in the Nation's Capitol without doing a bit of sightseeing? We took the train into the city, and did a LOT of walking. Here are some of the highlight photos.

Robert's Sportscast

Today's game was the Kansas City Royals against the Baltimore Orioles. The final score was 7 to 5 in the Orioles' favor. There were 3 homeruns in the game, 2 by the Royals and 1 by the Orioles. There were 19,756 fans at the game today. The Orioles had 10 hits and the Royals had 7 hits. There were 9 strikouts in the game, the Orioles threw 5 out of the 9 strikeouts and the Royals threw the other 4. The Orioles broke a 12 game slump at home today. It was a very exciting game today. That's all for Robert's Sportscast.

ORIOLES

There is just something about a brick building. This old train warehouse really adds a special element to Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles. But this 16 year old stadium is starting to show its age. The green seats are faded, and the Diamond Vision's color is so bad, you would think the team's colors are black and RED! As in the older style, you can't see the field from the concession stands. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our game.

Robert was tossed his 5th ball of the trip by Royals left-fielder, David DeJesus in batting practice.

No, it's just a mural. But we thought it made a fun picture with our little slugger in front of it! There were several things for a young fan to do while waiting for the game to start, and all were free.

For most of the game, the folks at Camden Yards let the baseball game speak for itself. There was little music, statistics, announcers, or games and contests. It seemed eerily quiet. But when a mere 19,000 Orioles fans cheer, they make quite a noise! And we never knew that The Star Spangled Banner had quite such a prominent "O!"

Their Diamond-Vision entertainment contained some items we had not seen before: "The Double Bubble Challenge" searched the stands for the fan who could blow the biggest bubble. "Name That TV Tune" had Ann guessing correctly a show she NEVER watches (Two And A Half Men), and the best was certainly "This or That". A question is posed, in this case "The Beastie Boys or the Beach Boys?" Then the team members are polled to see which one they prefer. (Beach Boys won by one vote!)

Our seats on the 3rd deck, right behind home plate were really very good. The best $8.00 tickets in all of baseball! They weren't too high up, and we had a very good view.

The 4 teachers behind us, and the family from Milwaukee in front of us with 4 kids, provided a lot of interesting conversations and kept Carter busy for nearly the whole game.

We would like to extend a special thank-you to the folks at Fan Relations who went above the call of duty at a very late hour to find the exact attendance for the night's game.

But we've got to tell you, $1.00 for a squished penny is extreme!

Video you've gotta see!

This one's destined to be one of the new greats.
Think she has an agent yet?

Robert's Sportscast

Today's game was the Washington Nationals against the Baltimore Orioles. The final score was 3 to 2 in the Nationals favor. To end the game there was a walk -off homerun in the 12th. There were 39,824 fans at the game, setting a new record for the largest Nationals crowd in National's stadium. There were 2 homeruns in the game, 1 for the Orioles and 1 for the Nationals. There were 9 hits for the Orioles and 11 hits for the Nationals. The Nationals only threw 1 walk and the Orioles threw 5 walks. The Nationals threw 6 strikeouts, 5 swinging and 1 looking. The Orioles threw 6 strikeouts, 5 swinging and 1 looking. It was a very exciting game and very intense game. That's all for Robert's sportcast.

NATIONALS

Ever look at Where's Waldo books?
Well, finding Jack in this picture is a bit of a metaphor for the Washington DC game for the Beloves. We will spare you all of the gory details. Suffice it to say that after 4 hours of being lost -involving bad directions, wrong trains, un-updated MapQuest, unmarked roads, crowded parking lots, and shuttle buses, we finally made it to the Nationals game at the end of the first inning. Given that we usually arrive at least two hours before the game and stand at the gates like the woman in the old Mervyn's commercial chanting "open...open...open..." we felt like we didn't get the full experience of this stadium. The good news is that the game went 12 innings, so we had a little extra time and we did take some time to roam around, and snap a few photos of the brand-new park.

Here is Abe. He is one of several dead-Presidents who roam the park causing trouble, high-fiving small children, and racing around the field between innings (Teddy is especially fond of raking the foul-territory). He stands about 9 feet tall, and Carter just wouldn't get close enough to get a decent picture.

You really can see the Capitol building from here, but you have to go up to the 5th (Yes, 5th!) deck to get a good look. These next two were also taken from there.

Given that they had a blank canvas to work with, and seemingly large resources, our impressions of this park were lukewarm. There was no effort made to take advantage of the monuments nearby, to create fabulous views. The feeling in the concession areas was somewhat claustrophobic. There were not enough concession stands, and lines were very long. For a stadium in a very hot climate, no effort was made to keep fans cool. (Did we mention the White Sox' "rain zones?" Just stand in a nice, cool shower if you need to!) We DID like that the press box was high up, leaving the best seats for fans. And we also liked that there was really no bad seat in the whole place. All in all, a moderate thumbs up for this brand-spanking new baseball park.

The game ended with a spectacular walk-off homerun by the Nationals, which landed nearly in our laps! Jim had ahold of it, along with a guy who was wearing a 1989 Giants/A's World Series cap, and just happens to be from Hayward. While the two of them were busy sorting out which one was going to end up with the prize, an old man walked up and wrenched it out of both their hands... go figure!

Where's Waldo? I think he's got our ball somewhere!

A much-needed day of rest ahead, then to Baltimore (we KNOW how to get to this field!) on Tuesday.

Robert's Sportscast

Today's game was the Tampa Bay Rays against the Pittsburg Pirates. The final score was 10 to 5 in the Tampa Bay Rays' favor. There were 4 homeruns in the game, 1 by the Pirates and 3 by the Rays. There were lots of substitutions in the pitchers position for both teams, but it ended up the winning pitcher was Kazmir for the Rays. The losing pitcher was Barthamier for the Pirates. There were 8 hits for the Pirates, and 15 for the Rays. The Pirates threw 5 strikeouts, 4 swinging and 1 looking. The Rays threw 7 strikeouts, 4 swinging and 3 looking. There were 19,970 fans there tonight. All I can say is that it was a fascinating game. That's all for Robert's Sportscast.