THIS is the Shea Stadium that I remember as a young lad.

With all due respect I have for that other New York baseball stadium. It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Shea Stadium today.

For me personally, it is where I saw my first major league game as a wide eyed seven year old. The house was packed on that day(Jacket day promo, I believe) and I remember that because we were sitting in the very top row of Shea. I could turn around and see the parking lot through the wire fencing atop the facility.

I went a few more times(about ten or so) through the years as Shea went through changes. I still remember when that giant scoreboard ad was a giant message board. Remember the exterior with the old red and blue panels. When the “Big Apple” beyond the center field fence was a brand new cool thing. And that Jumbotron in left was once a breakthrough in technology as well. What? A videoboard at a stadium….in color….get out???

Yeah, I’m dating myself. I know. But while all the hype is going to that hyperbolic venue in the Bronx, it’s easy to forget that Shea too, was the home of some incredible memories. Even for us in Buffalo…..

Where did Buckner let the ball roll through his legs? Yep…

Where did OJ Simpson become the only NFL back to rush for two thousand yards in a fourteen game season? Uh-huh.

Where did the greatest underdog story in American (pro)sports history occur? You bet!

Who didn’t love Robin Ventura’s grand slam(single) in the fifteenth inning in deluge in ‘99.

For an offbeat moment….does anyone remember the guy that flew into a World Series game on a parachute with a “Let’s Go Mets” flag. I sure do. Hillarious!

Where a black cat may have assisted the Mets in their 1969 run to the playoffs.

Todd Pratt’s NLDS winning home run in 1999…..Mike Piazza’s home run in the first game after 9/11. The “Ya Gotta Believe” Mets of 1973….a mediocre team that nearly won the whole thing.

Ahhh, yes 1973…the year that that (alleged) double murderer slashed and dashed across a football field in a season like no other for a running back. And speaking of Bills players named Simpson. What about Bill Simpson’s game sealing interception at the goal line in a 1981 playoff game at Shea? The interception stalled an incredible Jets rally as they had come to within four points of the Bills after trailing 24-0 at one point.

And Endy Chavez’ catch in Game 7 of the ‘06 NLCS…..what should have gone on to become the greatest catch EVER(had the Mets won the game)

Could go on and on….It’s tough to say goodbye to an old friend.

Here’s to a Mets win today and a stay of execution for a couple of weeks.

-pjf

Well, we’re at it again! Bright and semi early tommorow your favorite roadtrip duo hops into an ‘03 Kia Sorrento for a sports tour of the Ohio Valley.

Stop one was SUPPOSED to be in Charleston, WV tommorow night where the Augusta Green Jackets and West Virginia Power were going to play in Game 4 of the best of five South Atlantic League Championship series.

Small problem, the Power were swept out in three straight games. I guess we’ll just do a day long drive to Knoxville and park ourselves in town for Saturday’s home opener at renowned Neyland Stadium. Ahhh yes, the rivalry that is Tennessee/Alabama! Can’t wait!

Oops, actually it’s Tennessee vs. Alabama-Birmingham at 12:30 aw heck!

Not much time to worry about that, because that’s just the first of two college football games on tap for us. The nightcap occurs 170 miles to the north where Kentucky invites Sun Belt cupcake Middle Tennessee State to Commonwealth Stadium for a good ol’ fashioned non conference beatdown.

Useless trivia of the day: Middle Tennessee State and Peter’s high school alma mater(Horseheads) have the same nickname….the Blue Raiders. I dare you, try to come up with a more useless piece of info than that!

After that pasting, we head the car northwest to the Steel City and one of our favorite ballparks in PNC Park for a Sunday matinee. Don’t know and don’t care who the opponent is since I’ll have thoughts of Primanti’s and Quaker Steak on my mind, wanna have some of mine Andrew??? Hah!!!

Too bad that game three of the NY-Penn series is in Batavia. I could seriously see doing that one(7pm) in Jamestown on the way home. Eh, with our luck the series will be a sweep and the point will be moot.

Check back for updates as the weekend progresses:)

PJF

Why, you might ask?

For doing what we have done at ballparks and stadia dozens of times in our travels — refusing to acknowledge or pay homage to The Dead Fat Woman’s Song, the anthem of George Bush’s putrid war and his Red State/Blue State culture wars.

The story here revolves around one Bradford Campeau-Laurion, a fan who attempted to head to the can during the 7th inning propagandafest at Yankee Stadium. The police stopped him and ordered him not to move until the song had concluded.

“I then said to him, ‘I don’t care about God Bless America. I just need to use the bathroom.’ As soon as I said that, he immediately pinned my arm behind my back,” Campeau-Laurion told CBS 2.

Natch, the cops have a different version of the event. He was drunk, rude, obnoxious! Or so they say.

This is what is most chilling:

Campeau-Laurion says he didn’t know the Yankees had a rule restricting movement in the stands during the playing of God Bless America. The rule is enforced by ushers, stadium security and the NYPD.

A rule? A RULE?

This is absolutely appalling - forcing political correctness for this asswipe song.

Let it be known that I love this country. I stand proudly and sing our national anthem at sporting events. But I will not, repeat, WILL NOT pay homage to that idiotic song. No way. No how. And no, Mr. NYPD Guy, I have no intention of leaving this country either.

-Andrew Kulyk

I’ve had it with the lovefest.

How many freaking times have I had to hear “this is the last time (insert event here) will be played at Yankee Stadium” and “What an historic and wonderful stadium this is”. Enough! Quite frankly I could give two bits about The House That the Overwieght Philandering Former Brooklyn Dodger Coach Built.

If you’re here to read another glowing review of Yankee Stadium, move on. This one definitely isn’t for you.

It’s for the rest of us out there, those who can’t stand the Yankees with a passion, for those who believe that being named Murderer’s Row and the Evil Empire really aren’t good things to be referred to as. And I have a few random thoughts about the passing of this incredibly overrated venue and the unbelievably overhyped club that plays in in it. Basically some of the moments and stories that I’ll remember most from Bronx.

Yankee Stadium….ahhh yes. Where Casey Stengel managed the Yanks to seven World Series titles and ten pennants in twelve seasons. Then he was told to not let the door hit him on the way out.

And you thought the Mets were classless after firing Willie Randolph.

Where Roger Maris was despised in many corners of the Yankees organization for having the gall to make a run at the Babe’s hallowed single season home run record. Heck, even Barry Bonds was revered in San Francisco while doing the same.

A place so enamored by fans in the sixties that the woeful crosstown Mets outdrew them at the box office as the Yanks won pennants.

Where the Yankees had the nerve to have a player called out on a result of too much pine tar on the bat(common sense prevailed)……where slapping a ball out the hand of a fielder as they run to first is acceptable practice.

Where CBS ran a clinic in “how to run an iconic franchise into the ground”. Are they willing to buy in again? Just wonderin’.

Where a team can have a nine digit payroll yet cut dental benefits for the grunts in the office that take the 4 train to get to work in the Bronx.

Where Howie Spira became a national figure resulting in George Steinbrenner being banned from baseball for life….oh, nevermind.

Ditto for Brian McNamee. Still fresh news so I won’t go there.

Where Jason Giambi “apologized”.

Where the Yanks’ dynasty of the nineties was sparked by the most egregious blown call of the post Denkinger era. Thank you Jeff Maier, who in typical arrogant and pompous Yankeefan manner was paraded around like some conquering hero in the following days.

Where the Yankees’ wild spending on players threw the salary structure of baseball out of whack and stifled the competitive balance of the game .

St. Louis had Jack Buck, the Dodgers have Vin Scully, and the Yankees have this.

Where managerial stability reached an all time low, just ask the seventeen managers in seventeen years. Better yet, just look up Billy Martin.

I can just hear it now….” oh but, but, this is where Ruth and Gehrig played!!!”

Yes, they also performed at Dunn Field in Elmira. Take a ride if there if seeing a field where they played ball is that important to you.

“What about all those championships!!!”…money was a big help, don’t you think?

I have to admit, I felt no chills, no feelings of awe, no sense aura or mystique on Sunday as I wandered through the sterile and cramped walkways of Yankee Stadium while meandering through the hordes of fans wearing their crisp, brand new caps and their jerseys with players’ names on the back(a clear sign of a fan on the wagon) as they spent the day cheering on the easiest team in sports to root for.

It was nothing like all the other times I’ve wandered through a ballpark in its final days. There was no twinge of sadness, no feeling of relief that I was able to come here one last time and drink it all in and enjoy the experience. Simply a feeling of “good riddance, I’m outta here” was sufficient on this day.

For me, it’s always been about dollar signs and how the Yankees have always had far more of that than anyone else in the sport and how(surprise, surprise) they’ve been able to use that wide gap in revenue to produce more on field success than any other club in the game.

The sad thing is, the new joint will help the Yankees in that regard even more as you can bet prices for everything from scorecard pencils to luxury suites will set a new standard for revenue generation in baseball. Just like Sunday, next year we’ll go, we’ll cross it off the list and gleefully head off to Citifield to complete the New York doubleheader.

-Peter Farrell

Sunday afternoon, and it was time for the marquee event of this journey – one final USRT visit to the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium.

With stadium traffic, construction of the new ballpark and everything else going on, we decided to park the car in one of the neighborhoods north of the stadium on the #4 line, and then simply rode the train into the ballpark. We craned our necks in anticipation, and all of sudden, there it was! The cranes, the construction and the gleaming new Yankee Stadium, rising next door to the venerable old place. It is still one great sight to see.

The streets were bustling with fans on a beautiful warm Sunday afternoon, and really, the neighborhood surrounding Yankee Stadium is really pretty cool. Tucked underneath the elevated train platform are a ton of small merchandise shops, restaurants, taverns and bodegas catering to the baseball fan. The smells in the air and the cacophony of noises is great to just soak in.

We walked around the new ballpark and took pictures and then made our way in for one final time. One final game.

And what a game it was! The West Division leading LA Angels were in town for what could be a playoff preview, and the packed house was disappointed early as the Angels took a quick 5-0 lead and were seemingly in cruise control. But the Yankees chipped away and tied the game at 5, then took an 8-5 lead in the 7th and the place was absolutely going nuts.

Then the crowd got deflated as the Angels Mark Texeira hit a grand slam home run to give his team a 9-8 lead. But the Yankees would storm back in the bottom of the 8th, plating 6 runs to eventually win the game 14-9. Amazing!

We hung out with our friends Gary Herman and Mike “The King” Casiano. These guys are big Mets fans and definitely not Yankees supporters, so their Shea Stadium antics are much more muted and sedate here at The Stadium. These guys have also been doing a lot of road trip planning now that the NHL schedule is out, and like us they await the NBA schedule which should be out in a couple of days. They’ve got a visit to Buffalo the first weekend in November for the Bills/Jets game at The Ralph on their radar, so we will look forward to welcoming them if that comes off.

It was a long game, and we took one long final look at Yankee Stadium before heading back to the subway station. By the time we got back to the car it was 5:20PM and the ride home to B-lo awaited.

Five ballparks in four days in five different states. This summer road trip was yet another awesome one!

We’ve posed this question before, and we will pose it again… What is it about sporting events that seems to attract these douchebags? We caught this piece of shit hanging outside of Yankee Stadium this afternoon.

Take a look at this loser… shouldn’t he be doing something more productive with his time? Like blowing up an OBGYN clinic or beating the crap out of some guy outside a gay nightclub. That’s what people of this ilk seems to know how to do best, isn’t it?

Schedule day is always a big one for the Ultimate Sports Road Trip.

By now we know the routine… the NFL releases their schedule in mid April with big fanfare; ditto for the NHL, which usually is released right around the baseball All Star Break. The NBA comes out with theirs two weeks later, and then the AHL piggybacks on them. As for MLB, the teams each release their respective schedules in dribs and drabs… some teams announce the following year as soon as the regular season is over, while others (i.e. Mets, Yankees, Braves and Red Sox) are exasperatingly late in announcing.

As for NCAA college football… the big aggravation there is that many teams don’t release start times until 12 days before the games are played, and that makes it tough to plan, say, a Saturday college doubleheader, or calculating driving times.

Even now, we’re going to be in Bloomington. Indiana on Saturday, October 11 for the Indiana/Iowa football game, as a prelude to our visit at Lucas Oil Field the following day. What time is that game? Who knows! Why does it matter? Well, the Sabres season opener is Friday night October 10. If the kickoff in Bloomington is 12 noon, we have to hit the road Friday and will miss the hockey game. If it’s a night game, we can depart after the Sabres, catch some zzzz’s in Cleveland, and continue on Saturday.

Anyways, we got very little help in terms of “alignment of the planets” from the NHL schedule gods (a Sabres at Leafs game 12/6 in Toronto the night before the Bills/Dolphins game would have been awesome, for example).

These past few days, we sliced and diced the schedule, and since Artvoice gives us a small travel budget for us to cover road games, that certainly helps out, so we decided on these hockey games:

Thur 1/1 Buffalo at Toronto

Mon 1/19 Buffalo at Florida

Wed1/21 Buffalo at Tampa

Sat 2/28 Buffalo at New York Islanders

We’ve added a couple more OHL games (including the soon to be shuttered Windsor Arena, home of the Spitfires and former venue for the NHL Detroit Red Wings, we’re stopping there on Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving as we make our way back from Indy). We also are filling out a roadie the second weekend of September, which may yet change depending on college football start times.

We’ve got the last weekend in October open as well, and right now we’re thinking AHL venues in the midwest which remain on our “to do” list. Or we might just stay home.

Here is the USRT schedule. Lotsa cool adventures await!

(By the way, we’ve also updated the roster of “new venues” on our web site. Construction is currently underway on seven new venues in the four major sports. Here is the lineup.)

This past week Buffalo got to officially open the first phase of the Canalside project, on the Inner Harbor and immediately adjacent to HSBC Arena. It was a long time coming, and finally we can start picturing how this will all come together… maybe even in our lifetime.

Of course, all the excitement on the Inner Harbor didn’t stop the macadamias over at ElmwoodBuffalo Rising from chiming in with their usual ridiculous drivel.

But how would you like to be in St. Louis’ situation?

Two years ago they opened the new Busch Stadium, and after the rubble of the old Busch was cleared, they promised an exciting mixed use project of offices, condos, hotel and retail, to be developed by the Cordish Group (yes the same Cordish Group who lords over the vacant eyesore known as Rainbow Mall in Niagara Falls).

Now here it is… 2008, and the site sits vacant, litter strewn, and a large swail in the center collects stagnant water. One of the city’s aldermen, who chairs the committee overseeing ballpark development, has named the site “Baghdad on Broadway”.

A year from now, the eyes of Major league Baseball will be on St. Louis when the All Star game comes to town, and right now they can’t even agree on replacing the chain link fencing with something more durable and some “coming soon” murals. How embarrassing will it be when viewers get a gander of this mess from the blimp cameras?

A great email came in the other day from William Yurasko, a DC guy who blogs about his beloved Washington Nationals, and who we met back at RFK Stadium in 2005.

William read up on our postings and venue profiles, and fills in a lot of holes with some really good stuff about the Nats’ ballpark experience. Rather than cherry picking, here is his correspondence:

-Half-smokes, determined by Post columnist Marc Fisher to be D.C.’s official food, come from Ben’s Chili Bowl. Ben’s is a venerable institution on U Street NW (once known as “Black Broadway”) that survived not only the ‘68 riots, but the Green Line construction. Bill Cosby is a noted fan of Ben’s and always eats there for free when he is in town. Ben’s in the ballpark was something that had wide public support, so when it was announced with great fanfare when the Nationals brought them on board. I love the chili Half-Smokes, all the way. By the way, you mentioned Good Times Cafe, but is actually called Hard Times Cafe. They are a local/regional sit-down chili parlor franchise.

-The office building that blocks the view of the Capitol dome from many seats was actually, in a cruel irony, developed by the Lerner family, the Nationals owners. The building was approved and under construction before the ballpark location was selected.

-As for the redeveloping neighborhood, there is an excellent site called Near SE Redevelopment and (ballpark specifically) about the changing neighborhood.

-There is also expected to be a water taxi/ferry within the next few years, something I am very excited about happening. I interviewed the webmistress right before the park opened.

-There is actually a 1924 flag flying near the scoreboard, I only noticed it a few days ago myself.

-#10 is not retired for the fans (yet and hopefully never) as Ronnie Belliard, who hit a walk-off homer on Sunday, wears it.

-After Nats home runs (provided they are not the walk-off variety Bustin’ Loose, by the godfather of go-go/D.C. legend Chuck Brown is played. You probably did not hear it played while you were in town

-There are dozens of bike racks on the ballpark site. I biked over there once to get tickets, but have yet to do it for a game. There is a bike valet.

-Here is my review of Nationals Park, using the metrics that ESPN Page 2 used a few years ago.

-My father-in-law is an executive with one of the subcontractors who built Nationals Park. Previously, he was involved with Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, Univ. of Maryland’s Comcast center among other sports venues.

I’m glad you enjoyed the park. In a few years, when the neighborhood is more developed it should be an even better experience.
- William

All good stuff William! I especially like the water taxi/ferry idea… riding the Anacostia River to get to the game. We will let you know when we hit town again!

-Andrew Kulyk

PS - Had to throw in the photo (above) of Buffalo Bisons icon Luke Easter, who is enshrined in the corridors of Nationals Park for his days with the Homestead Grays of the Negro League. It was really awesome stumbling on that exhibit as part of our tour.

We are pleased to unveil the official Ultimate Sports Road Trip venue profile for Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., which becomes a part of the 122 team roll on the USRT web site.

Last night at Dunn Tire Park, we were watching the Bisons throw a one-hitter to defeat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3-0, but our primary attention had us busy evaluating and scoring Nationals Park, based on our 100 point system. Here are the scores:

Architecture 9
Food and team store 7.5
Scoreboard and electronics 6.5
Ushers 9
Fan support 5
Location and neighborhood 5
Banners and history 8
In game entertainment 5.5
Concourses/fan comfort 9
Bonus: Presidents Race 2, Cherry trees 1, Home plate entrance timeline 1, Homestead Grays memorabilia 1

TOTAL 69.5

The total score gives the Nats an 8th place ranking (tie for 8th actually) in our evaluation of the 30 MLB teams. Not bad!

During our interminable wait at the *chuckle* Nats Express bus stop, we chatted up our story with more than a few Nats fans waiting in line, who then pleaded with us to score their venue higher than that of the hated Baltimore Orioles. By checking the rankings you will see that they fell two points short of upending Camden Yards. Element for element, these two ballparks have everything going for them… what tips it in favor of Baltimore is the neighborhood. The Inner Harbor is a tremendous place for the fan, visitor and tourist; Navy Yards is a work in progress.

For anyone who has been to Nationals Park … Agree? Disagree? We sure would like to hear from you!

Seems like people are all aflutter about Sully’s recent column bemoaning the corporate stadia/arena naming craze. Knowing the rest of the Buffalo sports blogosphere as I do, the reasons had to be because of the article’s content and not its author. Right???

(snickering heavily)

Got me thinking though. Just how good is the average sports fans’ knowledge of stadium names in today’s day and age? The venue building boom of the last decade or so has left many a fan’s head spinning concerning the amount of names one has to remember, and that’s not including venues that have had multiple names thanks to corporations being bought out and reemerging under new titles.

With that in mind and being that sports venue gurus that we are, I throw out a little trivia quiz of “Name That Venue”. I’ll name fifteen or so venues, and it’s your job to figure out where they are located(and preferrably who is the main tenant’s’). Email me with the answers(at right).

One rule: stay the hell off our USRT site/blog for answers! Work for this one, pleeeeeeeze.

Prizes…. knowing that you’ve got a better memory than Sully. Isn’t that enough????

Note - The venues listed below are located in metro areas that currently hosts at least one of the four major pro sports leagues. One is home to a college team. One is in a former major league city, and another is located in a city that may soon join that club. Have fun with it:-).

A. Energy Solutions Arena
B. MTS Centre
C. American Airlines Center
D. AT + T Park
E. Comcast Center
F. McAfee Coliseum
G. FedEx Forum
H. LP Field
I. Ford Center
J. Sprint Center
K. Jobing.com Arena
L. Miller Park
M. Quicken Loans Arena
N. Rexall Place
O. Target Center

Bonus - What was the first corporate name of Gilette Stadium(Foxborough)?

-Peter Farrell

The third and final day was under picture perfect skies along the banks of the Anacostia River for the finale of the Rangers/Nats series.

Instead of going by train from the hotel, we decided to park the car at RFK and take the bus shuttle to Nationals Park with the thinking that a quick hop on the bus after the game would get us back to the car in decent fashion for the long ride home. Oops,(if you’ve read post below).

But the highlight of Sunday’s game would be the opportunity to sit with the rich folk in the club seats. Yep, we treated ourselves on this day.

From a viewing perspective, I’m really not very picky about where I sit as I can enjoy the action from anywhere so long as there’s an unobstructed view. The stuff that makes a club seat experience great in my mind is the paraphenalia(baseball related or otherwise) that these sections tend to have that are unique to the club level.

The highlights of the club level at Nationals Park are three pronged from a baseball historian’s standpoint.
1. A pair of murals depicting many of the various baseball cards featuring Washington Senators/Nationals past including some 1974 Topps player cards titled “Washington - National League.” when it appeared that the San Diego Padres were heading to the nation’s capital.

2. Another pair of murals dedicated to the Negro League’s Homestead Grays. While Senators baseball had a history of being completely inept, the Grays had six future Hall of Famers(Cooperstown) and won eight Negro League titles during the 1930’s and 40’s.

3. The hallways were decked out with various photos and other memoribilia depicting the role of patriotism in America’s pastime. One photo that stood out was that of Bret Shephard, a WWII vet who lost his leg in combat and still returned to play a little for the Senators. Coincidentally, Shephard passed away this weekend and the Nats gave a nice video tribute to him during a break in the action.

On to the game. The pregame festivities made note of the late, legendary Post beat writer Shirley Povich as the team named the press box in his honor. Povich’s family was in attendance including son Maury of “The Maury Povich Show”.

I couldn’t help but imagine a scenario in which an official approaches him during the game and says “we’ve just got the paternity tests back Maury, and they reveal that Shirley is…….NOT your father”…followed by hysteria and mayhem and such. Anyhow…..The Nationals would lose again using the same formula, where a strong starting pitching performance would be wrecked by an atrocious bullpen to hand the game and the series to the Washington Senators Texas Rangers by a 5-3 score.

The Nats are just a sad, sad team. A bunch of role players in the starting lineup and a nearly mediocre pitching staff are enough to form the club with the NL’s worst record.

Then again. That’s pretty much what Washington baseball has always been about through the generations, as now they’re “first in war, first in peace and last in the National League“. But with a gem of a ballpark to play in, who’s complaining? Not us as we left the yard knowing that not even the USRT karma could save this team, nor would it help us in making a quick getaway back to Buffalo(see post below).

-Peter Farrell

Want to go to a Nationals game and forget about the parking hassle at the ballpark?

Then drive on over to RFK Stadium, park for FREE, and take the FREE shuttle to the ballpark and back. Shuttles run until 90 minutes after the final out.

Sounds good, we thought, except that they only had, like, five busses running back and forth. When we arrived at the pickup point, there was a huge line snaking down the sidewalk and around the corner, and it just got worse after we cued up.

Time from arriving in line to getting to our car? 58 minutes.

In Atlanta they run a shuttle from Turner Field to the MARTA station two miles away. There have to be 30 busses or so running continuously, and the wait there is minimal.

This fiasco put a damper on what was otherwise a fantastic day… what should have been a 4:30 departure to Buffalo became a 6:00 departure.

Memo to Nationals front office - if you can’t get this right then just scrap the whole idea and let your customers fend for themselves. This level of customer service was totally unacceptable in our book.

Every ballpark. Every stadium. Every arena in the four major sports. Damn we’re good!

Once again we are at 122. And every time we get a chance to officially plant the USRT flag at a new destination, there is always a sense of anticipation and giddiness.For us it began as we walked out of the subway station at Navy Yard. We followed the crowd onto Half Street, which is one massive construction zone, as cranes are in the air, holes are in the ground, and this neighborhood is going through an incredible transformation. Straight ahead… there it is!!! The bright and gleaming new stadium, rising amidst the emerging neighborhood.

Nationals Park is the anti-Camden Yards. Not a single red brick anywhere. Not a kelly green seat anywhere. The exterior of the edifice is grey limestone, glass and light colored steel supports. The main entrance here is in left centerfield - that is where the subway traffic channels into the ballpark, and most of the ramps and surface lots are also to the north side of the facility. That makes the other entrances around the building, including the signature home plate entrance, very underused.

Home plate is on the south side, and behind there is the Anacostia River bridge, the last of the cement plants that was once the staple of the neighborhood, and a nicely redeveloped micro park and nature trail along the river which was a seedy mess when we visited back in 2005. What they have done with this district to date is actually very exciting - We’d love to see it all again when it’s done.

We toured the entire ballpark once we entered (we saw Ch 4’s John Murphy brushed by us didn’t have a chance to say hi though), and the first thing we checked out were the concession stands. The good news? The food variety here is absolutely incredible. Maryland crabcakes, hot dogs, brats and sausages of every variety, “Taste of the Major Leagues” stands with food offerings from peer ballparks, yes a chicken wing stand, deli sandwiches. cheese steaks. We could go on and on. The bad news? The prices here are way over the top, clearly the most expensive we have seen anywhere. Want an example? Small draft beer, $7.50, Pulled pork sandwich $10, your basic hot dog $4.50, hot dog with the works $6.75, mixed drink $12. They must really hate the Orioles, as the crabcake sandwich was $14! Sunday we are sitting in the club level, so we may as well apply the lube, bend over and grab our ankles now to save some time.

All the concourses are open to the field and even when walking around the place, you feel that you are a part of the game. Some of the nice viewing areas in the outfield include the Red Porch, a two level restaurant and open bar with great views of the action. It was a popular spot - the place was packed. Other outfield amenities include a Playstation play section, a “Build a Bear” store, the main team merchandise store, a music stage, and other children’s play areas.

The scoreboard and electronics here are also very nice but not over the top. Ribbon boards ring the entire second level, and are matched up with a circular ribbon above the Red Porch, twe LED boards on the outfield walls, and a massive HD scoreboard in right centerfield. Out of town scores are shown on the right LED, and in deference to the one at RFK, an analog clock with the “W” logo is the signature of the main scoreboard.

We have a lot more to show and describe about this fantastic venue, and we will save for the official venue profile, which we will unveil in a few days along with a bunch of thumbnailed photos and, of course, we will “score” the venue and compare it to its peer facilities in MLB.

As for the game, it was an ugly one for the Nats - Texas got a 7 run 7th inning enroute to a 13-3 pasting of the Nationals. Suprisingly, this was not the worst loss this season at home for the Nats - they have been routed at least two other times at home, including an 11-0 loss to the Marlins. Yep, on the field - this team is a disaster, and looking up and down the roster of has beens, castoffs and rejects, it may be a while before things turn around.

After the game, we hopped the train and headed over to Dupont Circle, just to feel the energy and vibrancy of a city that has people, nightlife and an urban pulse. Entertainers were performing in the street, music was thumping out of nightclubs, quaint bistros with outdoor patio seating were packed. Yeah it was all good. But we were beat after a long and exciting day, so we hopped back on the red line and headed back to our hotel.

Day 3 will be a 1:35 matinee at the yard, and we will be in the club seats with the rich folk. We’re doing the “park and ride” thing from the lots at RFK Stadium, and as soon as the game is done we will be pointing the car back to B-lo.

We came. We reminisced. We honored this hallowed venue for one final time.

Shea Stadium – Two Mets World Series won on home soil, 1969 and 1986. Bill Buckner booting what would have been the final out to clinch for the Red Sox. O.J. Simpson breaking the NFL rushing record and the 2000 yard mark for the Buffalo Bills in 1973. Bill Simpson intercepting Richard Todd’s pass in the closing seconds to seal a Bills playoff victory in 1981. The Beatles concert in the 60s. That emotional first game after the attacks of 9/11 and Mike Piazza belting a home run.

It will all be gone after this season, as the New York Mets will take residence in Citifield, going up right next door. Shea Stadium will then see the wreckers ball, as the site will be cleared for stadium parking.

We got to watch the Texas Rangers come to town for their first and only visit to Shea ever, as interleague play got underway. Mets fans are in a pretty foul mood these days… for a roster so stocked with talent, and a team that looked so good on paper coming out of spring training, the Mets season has been disappointing so far, with the team mired in the bottom end of a mediocre NL East.

But on this night, it would be all Mets, as Oliver Perez pitched seven stellar innings to earn New York a 7-1 victory.

The best part of the night was sharing the farewell experience with our good friends Gary Herman and Mike “The King” Casciano, who are two accomplished road trippers in their own right. Gary and The King have season tickets to both the Mets and the Yankees, and hold court above home plate in the uppermost rows of both of the venues.

Tonight their friends Fuzzy and couple other fellas were also in tow, and if you are fortunate enough to be invited into their closed circle, you will walk away from their whole show amused, amazed and completely shaking your head in incredulity.

These guys take their baseball seriously - they keep diligent scores, maintain scrapbooks, pick up loose ticket stubs and other souvenirs, try to scam extra giveaways at the door (tonight it was Mets beach towels), and know just about every usher and vendor in the joint.

As tonight’s game unfolds, the guys are passing around a shared copy of the New York Post, discussing an article about the NBA’s alleged game fixing scandal and chuckling at the whole thing. They commiserate about the failings of the New York Knicks, bitch about ticket prices and seating plans, share stories of past road trips, and call out casual ticket buyers who show up in “their” section in the third inning, as if to say “How dare you show up late and sit in oursection!”

The King raises hell at Shea Stadium

But the best moment of this eclectic group comes with The King’s signature shriek… after each Mets strikeout, he starts with a long piercing yell until he runs out of breath, and then chants out “He… Struck…Him…Out!!!”. The first such yell gets icy glares from other folks in the stands. By the third strikeout half the section is joining in with the chant. It is absolutely hilarious!

And as a footnote… this crazy group performs their antics without a single drop of alcohol involved!

After the game, we headed to an Irish bar named Donovans, in the Woodside section of Queens, to enjoy post game libations and one of “New York’s Best Burgers”. At least that’s what the sign on the door outside said and they weren’t kidding, it was an awesome meal. Donovans is a “Cheers” type neighborhood bar, and everyone we met there was very friendly and gave us a warm welcome.

OK it was almost 1 AM… so we dropped Gary off at his home in Floral Park, continued out to Bay Shore in Suffolk County to crash at cousin Sandy’s house… Saturday will be “family reunion day” before heading out in the evening to Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut, home of the AA Connecticut Defenders, the third stop in this USRT adventure.