Game 16: Colorado Rockies

One of the many pianos on the 16th Street Mall.

This is it, our final stop on this long haul across the country.  We made the long drive from Chicago to stop in Denver to see the Rockies before continuing westward toward our home in Berkeley.  Coming from the east you're greeting with a pleasant skyline of downtown Denver, particularly of the section they call "LoDo", or Lower Downtown.  After parking our car we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a Mexican food joint and from there (guided by the advice of the bartender working) we walked over to the 16th street Mall, an outdoor mall that stretches for about a mile.  This can certainly be considered one of the must-see spots in Denver as it is crowded with foot traffic from all walks of life.  On top of that, there were multiple pianos sitting in the middle of the long walkway for anyone who had the desire to step up and twinkle the keys.  On our way back to the ballpark we stopped at one of the coolest bars on our trip, in my opinion.  It was called 1 Up and had all kinds of old school arcade games throughout the bar.  You couldn't even tell it was a bar when you first walk in!  All of the games had cup holders to conveniently keep your beer within reach whenever you needed to insert another quarter.  Very cool.  We all agreed that if this place had been in Berkeley our paychecks would probably be going straight into their cash register.

Jake and Ryan getting their game on.  While drinking beer.

The ballgame itself was a near sellout because the Rockies featured a fireworks display that night.  We bought the cheapest tickets we could find at $4 a pop!  Talk about a steal!  We had grown accustomed to seat hopping and figured we'd do the same here.  Not at this ballpark.  There were ticket ushers at every entrance to the seats including every single section in the nose bleeds!  And they weren't afraid to ask for your ticket as soon as you poked your head out to see if the coast was clear.  We tried nearly every trick in the book to get by them, asking to take a picture and then sneaking behind them, trying to look around for your "friend" in the section, and even just playing dumb.  Alas, none of these worked and they kept their watchful eye on us the entire time we remained.  We we forced to concede to the ticket Nazis and went to find our actual seats which were right at the mile-high level marked by a row of purple seats spanning across the whole ballpark.


I had particular interest in this game because the Rockies were taking on my beloved Padres.  It was nice to see the Pads warm up during bp but not so nice to see them take a shellacking they way they did against the Rockies.  They were routed 10-2 and I had already begun to forget about the game and enjoy the view of the actual Rocky Mountains by the 6th inning.  Once the game was over they invited all the fans sitting in the Left Field Bleachers to move down to the field to get a better view of the fireworks.  In about 30 minutes the field was covered with lawn chairs and blankets.  We all waited with anticipation and we weren't disappointed.  Even though our seats in the right-center nose bleed section were pretty crummy for watching baseball they were fantastic for watching the fireworks.  That was easily the closest to any fireworks display I've ever been.  The grand finale was mind blowing.  With so many fireworks exploding it looked like there was just a huge ball of light going off 100 yards from us.  It was the perfect way for our trip to go out with a 'bang'.


I feel it's necessary to note the events later that night.  We drove about 2.5 hours after the game into Wyoming where we found a quiet campsite to rest.  In the middle of the night we were woken up with a ferocious howling wind that whipped around the tent.  We thought it would die down but it only increased after what must have been half an hour and we began thinking, "Are we in tornado country?"  After a far-too-long while the wind slowly died down, but not our heart rates.

Game 15: Chicago Cubs

The second to last game was a day game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.  There were two things that seemed to be necessities when going to see the Cubs play.  The first was that the game had to be a day game.  Wrigley was the last field to incorporate lights at the stadium, doing so in 1988.  We’re not sure exactly why it took so long for the Cubbies to plant lights in the stadium giving them the ability to play night games, but we like to think that it’s because they tried to preserve the glory of the Wrigley day game.  We also heard that we needed to sit in the bleachers for at least one game in our lives.  The seats behind the iconic ivy are general admission and are known or having lots of young people out there looking to have a good time regardless of the outcome of the game.

A photo of us outside the stadium.

We arrive at the game an hour early and claim our seats in left center field about halfway up the bleachers.  If there is one thing we learned after going to batting practice, it’s that most of the homeruns go to either right center or left center.  While at the time, we weren’t too concerned with homeruns, we were more than happy with our view.  The Cubs were taking on the Mets for the final game in their series.

The first couple innings go by without too much action, and we begin to talk to the people around us.  We are sitting next to a bachelor party full of Mets fans, some A’s fans from the Bay Area, and some long time Cubs fans.  Meanwhile, the Mets put up a couple of runs early.  The Cubs run into some trouble.  The Cubs starter gives up a homerun that goes to left center, about 50 feet to our left. The homer was the closest that any of us had ever been to catching a homerun.  It is Wrigley tradition to always throw any homer run ball hit by the opposing team back out onto the field, and within seconds the ball was chucked toward second base.  We turn our focus back to the game and our conversations as we enjoy the sunshine and warm weather.  The Mets fans are getting excited and the Cubs fans are starting to become depressed, when another hit starts flying our way.  This time another Mets player hit a bomb about 30 feet to our right this time.  This ball got thrown back onto the field instantaneously, and gained the title of closest homerun that we had been near. 

The view from our seats. 

With the Mets running away with the game, I remember looking around stadium and thinking about all of the history that has occurred in the second oldest MLB stadium still standing.  The stadium also has many signature characteristics that make watching a game feel like you just stepped out of a time machine.  The stadium still lacks a video board and instead has a huge manual scoreboard located in center field.  One aspect we really appreciated was the lack of advertising around the park.  While the elimination of all advertisements from any park in use today is near impossible, Wrigley has the fewest number of ads when compared to the parks we’ve seen.  Another classic Wrigley touch, which is not necessarily part of the field itself, is the rooftop seating located on the buildings located behind the right-field wall.  Since Wrigley is so old, the neighborhood around Wrigley has grown alongside the ballpark in a fashion similar to Fenway Park.  Restaurants and bars can be found all around the park with numerous Cubs fans filling the joints before and after the game.

Our attention was then forced back into the game when the Mets had the bases loaded and were threatening to score again.  With one swing of the bat, we saw a ball heading our direction.  It had the distance and had the height; it was definitely a homerun.  It was coming our direction and Jake and I jumped for the ball.  We went up and we went down, but unfortunately, we didn’t come up with the ball.  It landed two rows behind us, and was subsequently thrown back onto the field.  Sad as we were, we did find ourselves on the Sportscenter replay, which was some sort of a consolation prize.

Jake and I are jumping for the ball. Can you see us?

Overall, the day game at Wrigley in the bleachers was a great experience, even if the Cubs lost 17-1.  We all agreed that this was definitely one of the best games of the trip and a great experience that we will never forget.

As I think back about the game, I can’t help but think about the bachelor party that was sitting next to me.  During the game, they made a couple of comparisons to Wrigley Field being heaven. This prompted me to think of a modified version of the Field of Dreams quote that I feel accurately describes the field:

Is this heaven?

No, this is Wrigley.

The view from behind home plate.

Niagara Falls, Skyline Chili, and Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame

The last week of the trip was essentially dedicated to driving back across the country.  But we took it upon ourselves to do as much along the way as possible.  After hitting up the baseball hall of fame and spending the night in buffalo, we drove north to Niagara Falls to take the Maid of the Mist boat tour.  In our blue ponchos we boarded the boat and took off towards the falls.  I thought the Canadian side was more spectacular than the American side – it created a semicircle around our boat as we inched closer and closer to the fall.  At this point, the ponchos didn’t seem so silly.  The mere sound of the water falling was amazing, and we could hardly hear the person talking next to us.  After getting off the boat, we hiked up the side of the American side to take one last photo.  We then hurried back to the car to drive to Cleveland.

Do you like our blue ponchos?

The American Falls in the background

The ultimate destination was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but we had a little score to settle with the Skyline Chili.  After missing it in Cincinnati, we found there was a single Skyline in the Cleveland area.  From the outside, it looked like a respectable establishment.  But as we sat down and wondered if we were making a mistake.  Nevertheless, Brad and I opted for the 3-way, a plate of pasta topped with chili and a mound of shredded cheese, and Ryan decided to go for the 5-way, which added on diced onions and red beans.  Somehow, Ryan and I ate our entire plate; Brad, the obvious smarter of the three, did not.  We all felt pretty queasy and contemplated how a place like this can legally operate.

Under that mound of cheese, there is chili and pasta.

We trudged on into Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The building was a giant glass pyramid located on the shore of Lake Erie.  Inside there were tons of impressive exhibits; origins and influences of artists by genre, cases on places and periods in history, and profiles and garb of individual bands.  Certain bands were dedicated entire exhibits themselves (Elvis, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and many more).  The lackluster yelp review said we would be able to make it through the museum in 2 hours tops, but we spent that amount of time just on that, and that was only the bottom floor.  Floors above included progression of music in television, radios and headphones, iPods and recording devices; the wall of fame captured the signatures of each band member of those who had been inducted.  Speaking of the wall, they had one of those from a Roger Water’s Concert too.  The top floors were dedicated to special exhibits that are constantly changing.  For us, it was the Grateful Dead.  I’m not too much of a deadhead and for such a huge band, we didn’t recognize any names other than Jerry Garcia.  However, it was cool seeing how the band from San Francisco progressed and changed over their career.  

There were giant painted guitars outside.  You can just see the start of the pyramid on the left.

We left the museum as it was closing.  I think we were still feeling the Skyline a little bit – that sort of thing doesn’t go away very easily.  But the museum was great and we enjoyed what time we did get to spend there.  Just like everything else we’ve done in the past four and a half weeks: wish we had more time.

The Beginning of the End: The Journey Back

With the journey out to Cape Cod lasting four weeks, the rest on the Cape gave us the energy to begin our sprint back home.  We have one week to make it back to California from the Cape while hitting up the final two baseball games of the trip (Chicago Cubs and Denver Rockies).  We wake up early because also on our drive home, we want to hit up Cooperstown, the baseball hall of fame, which is located in upstate New York.  So we head begin our journey early Monday morning.

Outside of the Hall of Fame. 

After driving all morning long, we reached the small town of Cooperstown, NY in the early afternoon.  If there ever were a town that ran on baseball, this would be it.  The town has one main street lined with little shops and restaurants, and every window is decorated with baseball memorabilia of players past and present.  At the end of the street stands the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is right across the street from the local post office.  While many may ask why baseball honors its legends in this tiny town in upstate New York (we definitely did), we found out that it's because Abner Doubleday is rumored to have created the game of baseball in this city.

The museum is filled with exhibits dedicated to the history of the game, the impact of different countries on the game, and the stadiums found within baseball, which we found especially interesting.  We also found the portion of the museum that lists all the leaders in different statistical categories intriguing.  It was cool to see which records have lasted, and which haven’t survived the test of time/steroids.  We really liked seeing Barry Bonds' record-breaking homerun ball sitting in the Hall with an asterisk marked right in the center of it.  Once we finished looking at the history of the game, we entered the portion of the Hall where we found plaques dedicated to the greatest in the game. 

Looking at the dedication plaques.

After walking around the museum, we sat back down in the car and continued our drive back to California by heading north to Buffalo.  I don’t know if the hours in the car went by quickly because of the baseball games we were listening to on the car, or our excitement for Buffalo wings, but either way we made great time to Buffalo.  We pulled into Duff’s, which is one of the best wing stops in the town (even the President has stopped by).  The wings lived up to their reputation and we left the restaurant with our stomachs full and satisfied.  We ended our day at a local motel, ready to pass out from our food coma.

The Duff's Menu.

3rd Day in Chatham

Brad nearing the finish line on the 10k.

Our last day in Chatham was an eventful one and the perfect ending to our time off from the road.  We began the day with a 10k run through lovely Chatham where we skirted along the main streets of this quaint town.  Having never run a 10k before I had plenty of nervous energy pent up and took off like a gazelle from the start line.  Once Jake realized that our pace was way too quick we took it down a few notches.  The rest of the run was beautiful as we passed along the beach and a nice lighthouse before heading in for the home stretch.  On top of that, many of the neighbors were out in front of their houses cheering us and spraying us with the front lawn hoses to cool us off.  It had all the great qualities of "small town USA".

The afternoon breezed by and we raced to a local coffee shop that had wifi so we could upload blog posts like crazy.  And, of course, so Ryan and Jake could check on their fantasy baseball teams.

The evening came quick and we had plans to see the local baseball team, the Chatham Anglers, play at 7:00 pm.  The Cape Cod baseball league is one of the premier leagues for college all-stars to spend the summer honing their skills before heading off to the minors the following year.  The scene is very nonchalant: admission is free, kids are climbing on monkey bars on a nearby playground and picnic blankets cover the grass hills behind the home run fence.  It was a relaxing way to get us back in the baseball groove before heading off to the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown the next day.

The Milvia boys checking out the Chatham Anglers.

Chatham Day 2: The Vacation within the Vacation

With a rare full night of rest, we woke on our second day in Chatham ready to fill it with as much of the Cape Cod experience that one could cram into a 24-hour period.  So the three of us jump into the car with Carolyn and begin our journey up to Provincetown, which is the northernmost point on the Cape.  We take a quick break during the hour-long drive to hop out of the car and check out the National Seashore.  This plot of land was set aside as a national park when Kennedy was president, and as a result, has avoided the commercial development that can be seen on the other parts of the Cape closer to Boston.  The Seashore is completely open, and its dunes sit in front of the ocean, making for a nice portrait.  Carolyn took us to some great locations where we could see the water on both the inside and outside of the Cape.  It seemed that we had great views of the beaches along the Cape everywhere we went.

From here, we continued our drive up to Provincetown, or P-Town as we often called it.  The day we arrived in Provincetown coincided with the Portuguese Heritage Festival, which had Provincetown decked out with celebratory flags, decorated boats, and a local parade.  We took in all of the culture and crowds as we walked along the main street and stopped into the local shops.  After walking along the pier, we stopped into The Squealing Pig for lunch.  From our table we were able to watch the local parade as we waited for our food.  After the parade, the three of us tried oyster shooters as well.  Although we had mixed reactions, I think we all agreed that oysters aren’t our favorite things to eat.

Before.

Eating.

During.

After.

After lunch, we got some fired dough, a Portuguese treat.  Given that the Portuguese Festival was going on, we felt compelled to pick some up, even though we were all stuffed.   We split two between the four of us and the dough was delicious.  Once we walked off some of the food, we headed back to the car to start our trip back to Chatham.  Jake, a lover of Putt-Putt golf, convinced all of us that we had to play a couple holes.  Jake proved to be a Tiger on the course, as Brad, Carolyn, and myself struggled to find our golf game.  We all had multiple shots that found water or bounced all the way back to land behind where we initially teed off, which provided us with some hearty laughs.  As we neared the competition of the course, and the battle for second place was heating up, a storm began to roll into town.  The wind picked up and we rushed to complete the 18^th hole before the storm cloud was directly overhead.  Brad sunk his last putt as the first drops hit our shirts and we hurried to the car.

The Storm is Coming!

Once were back home, we brought out the board games and got ready for some more friendly competition before the night is over.  After a hard fought game of Sorry, we decided to play the friendly atmosphere destroyer, Monopoly.  Luckily, the board was never flipped even though there were plenty of heated discussions over trades and strategies to try to take down Jake, who developed into the Rockefeller of the Monopoly board.  Unfortunately, he was too big to fail, and Brad and I conceded all we were worth to end the game fairly quickly, at least by Monopoly standards.  The end of the game coincided with the end of our second day in Chatham and we headed to bed for another full night of sleep.

Us with the Boats in P-Town.

Chatham Day 1

We drove from Boston to Cape Cod after the Red Sox game to avoid the traffic the next day.  We didn’t get there until about 1:30, but that meant we were able to sleep in till 11.  And it was sorely needed.  We had just seen 5 games in 7 days and we were excited for a few days of rest and relaxation before we had to traverse back across the country.  We enjoyed the outdoor shower, the hammock, and an overall lazy morning before finally deciding to get something to eat.  And where did we go – of course the Kreme ‘N Kone!

Chillin' in the backyard

Us at the Kreme 'N Kone!

After lunch, we headed to Harding’s Beach on the South side of Chatham.  We set up our chairs and towels and then the three of us starting walking.  Last time I was in Chatham during the summer, I had remembered coming to this beach and walking straight out for what seemed like several hundreds of feet out into the water with it never rising above my waist.  This is what we sought out to do.  After walking all the way down the beach to the lighthouse, we started to walk out.  We continued to walk until we couldn’t even see our cozies in the sand anymore.  We had reached a third buoy, watched several boats pass us, and the water was still only up to our chests.  However, after successively stepping on a few crabs, we headed back towards land.  It’s a good thing we were standing because the current was very strong and pulling us the opposite way.  As we struggled against the current, dodging crabs to the best of our ability through the cloudy water, we slowly but surely made it back to land.  And even after we were there, we had a long walk down the beach back to our chairs and the car.  It was an awesome experience and just as I had remembered.

Teamwork

The Chatham Squire was our destination for dinner.  On a Friday night, it was a crowded night at the hopping restaurant and bar.  We took a quick walk across the street to the Chatham Candy Manor which makes a majority of their candy on site.  After getting some treats and walking around the town briefly, we headed back to the Squire to be seated for dinner.  Carolyn, Brad, and Ryan opted for the Chatham Bay Scallops while I went big for the one and a quarter pound lobster.  The dinner was great, and while the rest of the gang had to wait a while for me to finish, I don’t think they were too upset (I made sure to give them some of the big lobster).  Brad, Ryan, and I all tried to Lobster’s tomalley.  I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it was sort of creamy like a spread you would put on bread.  I’m glad I tried it (like Oysters), but I’m not sure if it’s something on my favorites list.

Dinner at the Chatham Squire

Since we had just seen Fenway the previous night, we decided to end the night by watching Fever Pitch with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Berrymore.   It was a great end to a relaxing and fun-filled night.

Carolyn came out and took a picture of us while we were watching Fever Pitch

Game 14: Boston Red Sox

There's something magical about this place that makes you wonder if this will be the last place on Earth to host a baseball game.  Before you even enter the ballpark you are thrust back in time as you stroll down Yawkee Way.  We arrived early to attend the batting practice tour at 4:00 pm for a 7:00 game.  We were lead through the main concourse down to the field just behind the batting cage where we could see some sluggers take some whacks.  I was in awe knowing I was treading the same ground as so many great players of the past, including Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and Cy Young.

View of the Press Box.

After strolling past the visitors' dugout we made our way to the seats near the left field pole that have remained since 1933, making them the oldest out of all of the major league ballparks.  It was here we were given a quick glance of Fenway's history of their great success during the first 20 years of the 1900s and then the dreaded 1920s which didn't treat them nearly as well.  Everyone blames the curse of the Bambino where Babe Ruth was traded to the Yankees which brought about the 86-year World Series drought.  What I did not know was that the owner not only traded away the Babe but practically the entire team: about 15 of the 17 players who won the 1923 World Series for the Yankees were originally from the Red Sox who won the 1918 World Series for them!

On the field in front of the visitors' people.

We concluded the history part of the tour in about 20 minutes with the tour guide inquiring the antsy crowd if they would like to move atop the 'Green Monstah' and every cried "YES!" in unison, unable to wait any longer.  The view from the seats on the Green Monster were incredible, gazing down some 35 feet down to the warning track.  Home run balls whizzed by our heads off the bats of Red Sox power hitters.  At one instance, a grounder was hit to shortstop and usually they will just toss it back to the pitcher.  However, in this case he turned and faced the crowd looking for a grateful recipient.  Everyone raised their hands including myself and tossed it my way, landing right in my outstretched glove!  Later during the Marlins batting practice we were sitting in Right Field and a zinger was hit right to Jake's glove!

On top of the Green Monster after batting practice.

Even before the game the festivities surrounding Fenway were buzzing with excitement as if it were Opening Day.  Yawkee Way is closed to the outside public to allow patrons to escape the scene at the yard if they wanted to enjoy some grub or grab a drink from a nearby hot dog stand or bar, respectively.  Right outside the entrance on Yawkee Way is a guy dancing on stilts to the tunes played by a four-person street band, who were fantastic.

Dancing on stilts!

The game moved along slowly with Boston's starter Dice-K on the mound, spending 25 seconds in between each pitch (we timed it).  The best part of the game for me was the entire crowd singing "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond in the middle of the 8th at the top of their lungs to pump up their team to come back from a 3-5 deficit and take the lead.  I happened to be standing behind home plate when they were singing and a nice usher offered me a seat 12 rows behind home plate, noticing my marveling of the park.  From there I witnessed the awesome comeback and save from Boston's closer.  Fenway was the best all-around baseball experience for me so far and I can't wait to make it back here!

The view from my new seat behind home plate.

Sightseeing in Boston

A town rich with American history and plenty to do, Boston joined the ranks of many towns on our trip that we wished had more time to explore.  It was big enough to enjoy the major sights without feeling bored but cozy enough to feel like you fit in.  We only had one full day to check out the town and we certainly made the most of it.  My visit was particularly special because waiting for me at my cousin Sarah's house was a welcome care package from my girlfriend, Lindsay!  She loves Boston and I'm sure her excitement got me excited to check everything there was to do for the following day. It was so sweet and the perfect start to get me going for the next day!  Thank you, Lindsay!

Care package full of homemade cookies and other goodies!

The night before our big day of exploring the town and catching a game at Fenway, we went out to a bar called McGreevy's with Sarah .  This bar had everything we wanted in terms of a genuine Irish bar, and the pitchers were $9.  We talked about our plans for the next day over a few pints and listened to Sarah's advice on what to see.

At McGreevy's with Sarah.

Knowing we had may destinations along the metro we opted to buy a day pass, which certainly paid for itself by the end of the day.  Our first two stops were 'Hahvahd'  and MIT campuses on our way into downtown Boston.  We all agreed that Harvard certainly had the prettier outside architecture with the ivy hugging the red-brick structures.  However, we didn't need school IDs to enter the air conditioned MIT buildings on this hot day, like Harvard required, so we certainly give a nod to that campus for letting us cool off.

Browsing through Harvard.

Before heading into downtown we made our way to Fenway Park to buy tickets for the batting practice tour that started later on in the day at 4:00 pm.  I was already getting the pregame buzz gazing up at the street sign that read "Yawkee Way".  We quickly got our tickets and made our way to the freedom trail in downtown to explore the colonial sights.  We were probably the most efficient tourists out there, zipping from one sight to the next while Jake read off the factoids of each sight as we walked by.  The notable sights we saw were the sight of the Boston Massacre, the Bunker Hill Memorial and Paul Revere's house.  Most of the sights were cleverly mixed in with the downtown scene of Boston which gave us great exposure to a then-and-now scene.

Beginning the Freedom Trail.

Game 13: Philadelphia Phillies

We left New York with a trip to find Old Ebbet’s Field (site of the Brooklyn Dodger’s).  All that remains today is a small plaque commemorating the classic field.  It took us about 2 hours to find.  But after much frustration we were finally off to Philadelphia.  Because the game was at night, we had a chance to travel into the city before heading to the game.  Of course, we had Philly Cheese steaks from Pat’s.  It sits right across the street from Gino’s and the two always have lines out the door.  They were absolutely delicious and a much-needed treat after a long day of searching for Ebbet’s field and driving.  Before heading to the stadium, we traveled over to the Liberty Bell where a large museum was dedicated to its history and symbolism.

Ryro with the sign at Ebbet's (there was a small plaque around the corner too)

Cheese Steaks!

Brad with the cracked Liberty Bell  and Independence Hall in the background

We were able to get the game early enough to see batting practice.  Since the Cincinatti game where we were forced to get there early, we have had a lot of fun going early for batting practice and trying to catch home run balls.  As we stood in left field, Brad and I got lucky, with both of us catching long balls.  

Brad and Me with the balls we caught during batting practice

The Phillies stadium was another great one reminiscent of both Detroit and Pittsburg.  The Philly skyline was painted across the night sky as we looked on from our seats right above home plate in the 3^rd deck.  Though we had just had cheese steaks a few hours earlier, the Phillies stadium is known for its food and we were excited to try.  While Brad opted for a massive plate of chicken nachos, Ryro and I tried the Schmitter (an awesome steak and salami combination.  See: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPhPnRMYseDXFIF9tZXc7M-tE_kE2BKpeT0YEMh787WJ1THNI9q1DTONRbA-f8VOVOm1cDQLbT8iWF6EKy9f26Dh3DgeG6XRsqUKZ9PMYbJ2gGI_G6f2IpE-lC3H7VBcp4L0pIeks1vk-/s1600/C:%5Cfakepath%5CschBP1.gif).  Needless to say, the three of us were all in a food coma for the remainder of the game.

We saw the Philly Phanatic in action.  It has been an icon for the ball club since 1978 and its crazy antics (as Brad tells me, very much like the San Diego chicken) are what make it so loved by its fans.  During pregame, he pretended to throw baseball grenades into the dugout of the Rockies.

The view from right field

The game itself was a good one.  Though we do not normally root for the Phillies, we were all for the home team on this day.  Cole Hamel's threw another gem after giving up an early run.  He was one strikeout away from recording his 100th (we almost saw Gio throw his 100th of the year in Washington too!).  Regardless, the Phillies took and early lead and never looked back or showed any signs of giving the game away.  It was nice to see the home team win for the second day in a row.

Final Score: Colorado Rockies 2, Philadelphia Phillies 7