Fanfest!

FANFEST!! A baseball fan's idea of heaven!



Major League Baseball holds this no-holds-barred fan-appreciation celebration every year, right before the All-Star Game, in the hosting city. Last year, Jim and Robert went to Fanfest in San Francisco, and came back raving about how much FUN they had. This year, we were in New York City at exactly the right time.





Imagine: games - prizes - mascots - photo opportunities - autographs - history - shopping - and everywhere baseball, baseball, baseball!






As you can tell, we met some old friends there.





And made some new ones!

Shirley and Delores from the All American Girls' Baseball League (as in- "A League Of Their Own") were there to sign autographs and talk about how much they love the game of baseball.

Jim brought some unusual baseball cards to Fanfest to see if he could get a value of their worth. Guess who got filmed for a segment on people consulting the appraisers!

We needed a little time to cool off between innings.

Then back to the fun!

Yep! That's Jim on Fanfest's version of Jeopardy. He knew all the answers... now, if he could only get his buzzer to ring-in properly!

(No worries. The prize was a CD of the Yankees highlights.)

Anyone recognize the guy signing an autograph for us?

Rollie Fingers, in the flesh!

An exhausting, but VERY fun baseball adventure for the Beloves!

Anyone want to meet us at Fanfest in Anaheim in 2010?

Baseball's Hoboken history

One evening we had dinner with cousins Leslie and Beauchamps in New Jersey. After a delicious New York style pizza we visited this plaque in Hoboken, claiming it to be the birthplace of baseball.





Well, it IS a baseball vacation!

Robert's Sportscast

Today's game was the New York Mets against the San Francisco Giants. The final score was 7 to 3 in the Mets' favor. There were 48,755 fans there at Shea Stadium. There was 1 blast for the Mets in the game today. The Giants had 3 hits in the game, and the Mets hit a whopping 10 hits. The Mets threw 6 walks, and the Giants threw 8 walks. It sure was a walk-fest today! The Giants threw only 2 strikeouts, 1 swinging and 1 looking, while the Mets threw a whopping 10 stikeouts, 7 swinging and 3 looking. It was a very exciting game today. That's all for Robert's Sportscast.

METS

Our last ballpark heading East...Shea stadium!
A small and dying park, just biding its time until it can be replaced with a newer model, she is dirty and her seats are breaking. The organ sounds like the one from the Adams Family, and she is the new winner for dirtiest park.

But she must have been wonderful in her hey-day!

I think we have more seats behind home plate at our little league diamond at home!

The decks have very few rows, but very steep, creating a feeling of being is a very intimate ballpark. And the first level is an actual bowl shape, with the back seats of the first level being nearly even with the front row of the second. You must have a terrific view from those!

And here is Son of Shea, right next door!

See it? Jack spotted it right behind the left-field wall!

Just 39 more games until the big move!

So....

We're walking around the park, just taking in the sights, when this nice lady stops us. "Excuse me," she says, "But weren't you at the Yankees game yesterday? You was wearin' green then."

By gum, she was right! But how did she know? She sells consessions at both stadiums! (We all hope our memory is as good in our advancing years!) And she is expecting to be at Fanfest tomorrow. We'll have to make a point of looking for her.

We also met a very friendly and talkative security guard and a nice Fan Services lady who gave the kids -final season at Shea Stadium- pins.

Our kids are pros at this by now! Robert got autographs of Giant's pitchers #37 Jack Tascher and #18 Matt Cain.

Fun and games are always at hand on the Belove's Amazing Baseball Adventure.

Yes, we got to see the Big Apple in The Big Apple. How great is that?

Oh, and the Mets have the best Porto-Potties we have EVER been in!

Robert's Sportscast

Today's game was the New York Yankees against the Tampa Bay Rays. The final score was 2 to 1 in the Yankees favor. The winning pitcher was Cabrera for the Yankees and the losing pitcher was Howell for the Rays. There was 1 homerun in the game, and that was by the Rays. The Yankees hit 6 hits, and the Rays hit 6 hits. The Yankees threw 10 strikeouts, 8 swinging 2 looking, and the Rays threw 7 strikeouts, 5 swinging and 2 looking. The Rays threw 4 walks and the Yankees threw 5 walks. In the bottom of the 10th Jeter walked, and then Abreu hit a game winning double to score Jeter. It was an exciting game. That's all for Robert's Sportscast.

YANKEES

Here is Jack at Yankee Stadium. He can't believe he actually made it inside! They take their security VERY seriously here. We almost didn't get our backpack (the same one we have taken to every ballpark on this trip) inside ("This is New York, Ma'am!) But, thanks to the magical powers of our new friends Steve and Tom from Syracuse, who also helped us find our way on the subway, Jack got to enjoy the Yankees final season in their old home.



And you are all lucky to be able to experience it as well. Upon arriving, we realized that the camera battery was dead, and we didn't have the spare with us! We are thankful, once again, to the good people at Fan Relations, who provided us with a secure outlet to recharge.

Yep! It was Jason Giambi "Support The 'Stash" day here at Yankee Stadium!

Here is Giambi ('stash not visible from this angle) and our fellow Petaluman, Johnny Gomes, doing what they do best!





Although you can tell she was a beauty, she is showing her age. The seating area is well laid out, with a good view of the Bronx, but the lights buzz constantly, and we have yet to see a dirtier, more unkempt park. The halls are very small and obviously in need of a lot of work. Better yet, why don't they just replace them! Oh yeah! They will be!

No, we had never seen the grounds-crew dance the YMCA, either!

Of course, we were treated to verses of both "My Way" and "New York, New York"

And NO ONE sings God Bless America like Kate Smith - even if they have to pipe in a recording!

In traditional New York Yankees fashion, the fans stuck around until the bitter end ("It ain't over 'till it's over!), and were rewarded for their patience.

Bobby Abreu's double in the bottom of the 10th scores Derek Jeter earns him high-5's from his teammates, and wins the game for the Yankees. Fans erupt in joyful noise!

Just 32 more games to play in this old house!

Robert's Sportscast

Today's game was the Boston Red Sox against the Minnesota Twins. The final score was 1 to 0 in the Red Sox favor. There were 37,912 fans at the game today. There were no homeruns in the game today, but there were 14 hits in the game, 7 by the Red Sox and 7 by Twins. The Twins threw 3 walks and the Red Sox threw 4 walks. The Red Sox threw 7 strikeouts, 6 swinging and 1 looking, and the Twins threw 7 strikeouts, 5 swinging and 2 looking. Today's crowd was the 430th consecutive sellout. It was a really exciting game. That's all for Robert's Sportscast.

RED SOX

Fenway Park is one of the oldest remaining parks in baseball today. It was once a grand place, full of tradition. But, aside from its loyal fans, it is currently experiencing some growing pains. It can't seem to make up its mind what it wants to be.

Unlike Wrigley- where they are keeping the old ways alive, or Pittsburgh- where they are embracing the modern fan-experience, Fenway is trying to live a double-existence.

Several years ago, there was talk of taking down this old beauty, and replacing it with a modern park. Then a new owner decided to revitalize, rather than replace. They added seats, upgraded the sound and video systems, and tried to bring this park into a new era. Unfortunately, the mixture of old and new leaves one feeling somewhat dissatisfied in both worlds. Old carousel-sounding organ music, interspersed with Rock and Roll at full volume... the video subway races juxtaposed to the a capella singing somehow created an incomplete, rather than an enriched, baseball experience.

But it was certainly an experience worth having! For instance, Fenway does something we have not seen anywhere else. Here you enter, not at the stadium gate, but at the end of Yawkey Way, and the fan experience incorporates the shops and businesses across from the stadium, and all up and down this block, as well as inside the walls of Fenway. There were street vendors, music, juggling and entertainment, and hoards of enthusiastic fans.

There are now seats on top of the old Green Monster. Someone we met who had paid $500.00 per seat to sit in these "prime" seats said that it really is not a good view from which to watch a game. But we wanted to see that view for ourselves.

After a bit of convincing, the usher actually let us up on top of the
Green Monster.

Jim thought that would be the perfect time to call home.

Here is the right-field foul pole, littered with generations of graffiti, as seen from atop the Green Monster.

As always, a bit of batting practice for the boys, in hopes of catching a ball.



Yes, it's made of LEGOS!! Carter couldn't have been happier!




This game was an important part of our baseball adventure, but between the two, we give Wrigley our higher historical-park rating!

An interesting side-note: Since Fenway is always sold out and tickets are expensive, not many people take their kids to the game. But they don't miss out here in Boston; the local theatres have Baseball Night! For a fraction of the cost of going to the game, you can experience the game on the big screen in high-def! And the theatre companies complete the experience by selling hotdogs and such in the lobby, they sometimes have players come sign autographs, and they even throw T-shirts into the "stands" , do the 7th inning stretch, and other live-baseball activities. How smart is that!

Maybe it IS easy being green!

During our big sightseeing day in Baaston, we took a drive by Fenway Park. It was not a game-day, so everything was open to traffic and pedestrians. We had a great time walking around the park, seeing things we would never have been able to with 38,000 fans hanging around.

These two photos show the outside of the infamous "Green Monster" it doesn't roar or eat villagers, but it does terrorize unsespecting baseball teams. Outfielders notoriously have difficulty predicting how the ball will careem off of it. Beware the Green Monster!

One thing you may not have known (we sure didn't!) is that there is a bar actually INSIDE the Green Monster. When there is no game, they actually open up a part of the wall, and you can see right out onto the field.

This is a view from the bar onto the field. The fuzzy spots around the edges are the chain-link fence we had to shoot the picture through.

This photo was taken the following day, during the game. It was taken to show where the bar is inside the wall.

This was taken from a peek-through at the end of the bar. It shows the original wall that now sits behind the current center-field fence. If you click on this image, and enlarge the photo, you can see many generations of players' signatures.

Being Oakland A's fans, we guess we are partial to the color green. Go figure!