Mets 4 Nationals 3 with the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour In Attendance

 

Over the years the family has attended 6 Jay Buckley Baseball Tours seeing games all over the country.  There are many entries in this journal documenting our trips.  Today, Tour 20 was at Citi Field to see the Mets play the Nationals.  We stopped by the group sitting in Section 125 and chatted with Jay for a while;

Lee took a photo with Jay

Christian Scott started the game for the Mets and pitched into the 7th inning.  The highlight of the game was Luis Torrens’ 407-foot homer to straightaway center off Jake Irvin (2-7) put the Mets ahead for good in the fourth.  Kodai Senga struck out 2 in the 9th inning to earn his third save.

Box Score

The crazy thing is the Mets' record is 9-3 after the trade deadline.  Maybe they can end the season with a respectable record.

Jay Buckley Baseball Trip Day 1

Monday June 14

Our flight for Chicago's O'Hare airport was scheduled to leave LaGuardia at 1:05 PM, but it was delayed since there were hazy conditions in Chicago. When the plane reached Chicago's airspace it was also delayed. We arrived about an hour late, but we were in plenty of time.

After dinner, we saw the tour bus in the parking lot. Larry Zorn and Fred Monk, the tour escorts were displaying merchandise available to the people taking the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour. Each person is given an allocation of "Buckley Bucks" to purchase shirts, hats and other souvenirs of the tour. One can use cash to buy more stuff.

Afterwards, we went back to our room to watch the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Seattle Mariners on ESPN. If we didn't have a live game, we may as well see a game on TV.

I listened to Dick Biondi on WLS-FM on the radio. I have listened to his show online many times, but this was the first time I heard him on the radio.

Jay Buckley Baseball Trip Day 3

We left the hotel in Chicago at 8 AM for our first long bus ride. We travelled for about 8 hours along I-94 on the way to Minneapolis. The tour escorts did a good time in entertaining us during the long bus rides. I did bring two baseball books to read:

Chafets, Zeʼev. Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame. New York: Bloomsbury, 2009.

To give a mini book review, there are certainly a lot of politics in the election of people for the Hall. It will be interesting to see if the suspected steroid users will be elected when they become eligible.

Raanan, Jordan, and Joe Benigno. Rules for New York Sports Fans. Chicago, Ill: Triumph Books, 2010

Joe Benigno is a host for sports talk radio station in New York. I highly recommend this book for NYC people.

Getting back to the baseball trip, each person was invited to talk about themselves. I said that I actually attended games at Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds all those years ago. I talked about how I have been a Mets fan since the inception of the team in 1962.

The tour escorts organized run pools and other contests to keep everyone amused. I guess one of the highlights of the Jay Buckley Tour is the guess the attendance contest for every game.

We passed by the Metrodome where the Twins played until this season. The Minnesota Vikings football team will continue to play there. The Target Center home of the Timberwolves basketball team was across the street from the Target Center.

One of the reasons we went on this particular tour was to see this new home of the Twins. It is a beautiful ball park with all the modern ammenities. Since any new ball park will attract crowds, our sears were down the left field line. We couldn't see the scoreboard from our seats.

We met Dave and Louise Anderson at the stadium. I have been in touch with them since our 2007 Buckley Tour. We were surprised to see that 3 people on this tour had been with us in 2007.

The Twins beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1.

Box Score

I Just Signed Up for the Ultimate Game Day Weekend of the Jay Buckley Baseball Tours

 

We went on Jay Buckley Baseball Tours in 2006, 2007, and 2010.  There are many entries in Bruce's Journal documenting those trips.  We thoroughly enjoyed watching the games in other cities and meeting other baseball fans.  In recent years we have gone to one city, visited museums during the day, and gone to baseball games at night.  We have seen games on our own in:

• Boston
• Philadelphia
• Washington
• Atlanta
• Houston
• Denver
• Seattle
• San Francisco
• Oakland
• Los Angeles
• Anaheim

This 2021 tour is unique since it includes baseball and football games.

• Oakland A's vs Astros at Minute Maid Park
• Cleveland Indians vs Texas Rangers at Globe Life  Field
• Carolina Panthers vs Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium

Finally The Mets Won For Us As They Beat The Brewers 4-2

The Mets pitching staff did as they are expected as Robert Gsellman held the Brewers to two runs over 7 innings. Gsellman helped his own cause by driving in one run with a sacrifice fly and another with a bases-loaded walk.  It has been a problem for the Mets starting pitchers to go deep into games this season.  This has put undo stress on the bullpen which has faltered many times this season. Paul Sewald pitched a perfect 8th inning while Addison Reed got the save.  He retired the side in the 9th inning after giving up two singles.

Game recap

Before the game, we hooked up with Jay Buckley whom we first met in 2006 when we went on the first of three tours with his group.  He has since sold his company but often escorts tour groups as he did today at Citifield. I highly recommend that all baseball fans go on one of his tours

Jay Buckley at Citifield

We signed up for another Jay Buckley Baseball Tour

Back in 2006 and 2007 we went on Jay Buckley Baseball tours of the midwest. If my readers are interested they can read my entries in August 2006 and June 2007. We are going in June and will start the tour in Chicago at Wrigley Field. It will stop at Minneapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis and back to Chicago. This morning a received a phone call from radio friend Ken Hawkins who lives in St. Louis. Since he is also a baseball fan, he suggested the we meet up at the Stadium. We will definitely see less games at Citifield this year. I am projecting that we'll see 6 to 8 games as opposed to the 15 we saw last year.

Karen and Lee Visited the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour

Jay Buckley of La Crosse Wisconsin has run baseball tours since 1982.  Karen, Lee, and I went on his tours in 2006 and 2007.  Since the last tour we kept in touch with Dave and Louise Anderson of Minnesota.  They do read and comment to this journal.  Dave and Louise picked a tour this year that started in the midwest and came to New York to both Shea and Yankee Stadiums.  Last night Karen and Lee met Louise and Dave at Shea Stadium.  Sadly, I couldn't go because I had to work.  The Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 7-0.

Already Thinking Ahead to the 2013 Baseball Season

This weekend Jay Buckley announced his baseball tours for 2013.  If you search on the box at top of the page under Jay Buckley you will see that we went on his tours in 2006, 2007 and 2010.  We always like to visit new cities as we saw that Tour 11 visits Tampa Bay and Miami.  Since we have never been to those ball  parks, this tour is appealing to us.  I would not look forward to visiting Florida in early August.  It is many months away so we have plenty of time to decide if we want to go.

Listing the Major League Baseball Parks I Visited Over the Years

 

I thought I would list the major league ballparks that I visited over the years.  My first game was on July 15, 1957, in Ebbets Field, the last year that the Dodgers played in Brooklyn.  I obviously attended many games in NYC, but have traveled to visit other ballparks.  The list is in no particular order and includes some names that have changed.  I just hate the corporate names of ballparks, but everyone is out for the almighty buck from naming rights.  Yankee Stadium is listed three times since there were actually three stadiums at River Avenue and 161st Street.

Several of these parks are now defunct.  Off the top of my head, I need to visit Nationals Park, Tropicana Field, Petco Park, Globe Life Field. and Comerica Park.  In 2007 we visited Comerica Park in Detroit on the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour, but the game was rained out.  I am sure that regulars of the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour have larger lists than mine.

1. Ebbets Field

2. Yankee Stadium (1923-73)

3. Yankee Stadium (1976- 2008)

4. Yankee Stadium (current)

5. Shea Stadium

6. Citi Field

7. Polo Grounds

8. Fenway Park

9. Citizens Bank Park

10. RFK Stadium

11. Turner Field

12. Marlins Park

13. PNC Park

14. Great American Ballpark

15. Wrigley Field

16. Guaranteed Rate Field

17. Miller Field

18. Target Field

19. Kaufmann Stadium

20. Busch Stadium (current)

21. Coors Field

22. Chase Field

23. Dodger Stadium

24. Angels Stadium

25. Camden Yards

26. Candlestick Park

27. AT&T Park

28. T-Mobile Park

29. Oakland Coliseum 

30. Progressive Field

Tuesday March 28 - The Vacation Begins

 

In 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2021, the Slutsky family embarked on a wonderful Baseball Tour led by Jay Buckley.  You can find documentation of the previous tours in this journal.  We picked this tour since we could see the Mets play in Miami on Opening Day.  I had never seen the Mets play on the road.  The second game in Miami was also included followed by a game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

We took a flight to Tampa, the starting point, from LaGuardia Airport.  We arrived at the hotel at about 3:30 but did not have to meet the tour until 8 PM.  At that point, we were issued "Buckley Bucks" that we used to purchase t-shirts.

Mets 7 Red Sox 2

Our 20-game package included this Tuesday night game against the Red Sox.  Starting pitcher David Peterson was superb as he struck out a career-high 11 in six innings.  The game featured home runs by Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, and Pete Alsonso as the Mets extended their winning streak to six.  The Mets record is a major-league best 53-31 since May 30.

Trip #22 of the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour was at the game.  I stopped by as we entered the ballpark, but Jay who escorted the tour was away.  Since 2006 the family took six of his tours.  They have always been a pleasure.

Game Recap

 

Bruce's Journal Returns after a Short Hiatus

 

Some of my regular readers may wonder why I have not posted a new entry in several days.  I was at the Ultimate Game Day Weekend by the Jay Buckey Baseball Tours (JBBT).  If you search in the upper left-hand corner of my journal under Jay Buckley you will see accounts of my trips in 2006, 2007, and 2010.  This weekend featured baseball games at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Globe Life Field in Arlington, and a football game at AT&T Stadium with the Dallas Cowboys.  I will follow this with a journal entry for each of the days of this trip.  This has been a tough year for me with Karen’s illness followed by her untimely passing.  I had to take on more domestic responsibilities as well.  I thought it would be good for Lee and me to get away for a short vacation doing things we enjoy.

Jay Buckley Baseball Trip Day 2

Tuesday June 15

As I was going to breakfast at the hotel, Sheration O'Hare, I saw a Fed-Ex truck pull up to the entrance. I wonder if someone was spying on me. Anyone I must complement Jay for picking an excellent hotel for the start of the tour. Since we had a little free time this morning I listened to my favorite NYC radio stations (WCBS-FM, WFUV, and WBGO) on the iPhone.

At 11AM we left for Harry Caray's restaurant in downtown Chicago. I must say that the food there was excellent. I would recommend that anyone traveling to the Windy City stop there. For readers who are not baseball fans Harry Caray was best known as a broadcaster for the Cardinals, Cubs, and White Sox.

From there we went to the Navy Pier ,a family attraction featuring entertainment, shopping, dining, cruises, and events, featuring more than 50 acres of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants and more. We did have the time to take a 30 minute cruise of Lake Michigan.

We arrived at Wrigley Field about 4:30. Any baseball fan should go there once to experience a ball park in the middle of a neighborhood. It is one thing to see a game on TV, but you really must experience the environment in and around Wrigley Field. We met George Castle a journalist and writer who gave us a tour of the neighborhood. He showed us the exact location where a 600 foot home run by Dave Kingman landed.

Just before game time it started to rain. Fortunately it stopped and the game began at 8:45 PM. The Oakland A's beat the Cubs 9-5. Box Score . We had several people on the tour from northern California who were quite happy with the result.

Baseball Tour - Day 2

Day 2 – Thursday August 24th

 

We left the motel in Milwaukee at 9 AM and traveled to Chicago where we arrived at 11 AM by Wrigley Field.  We walked around the neighborhood called Wrigleyville until 12:30 Pm when we went into the ball park.  We had great seats just on the third base side of home plate on the lower level.  The game turned out to be a blowout with the Cubs defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 11-2.  (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260824116 )  The actor Harold Ramis sang Take Me Out To the Ball Game during the 7th inning stretch.  Jay Buckley, our tour guide, gave us 1 ½ hours to eat dinner near the ball park.  We departed Wrigley at 5:15 PM.  Jay gave us a little tour of Chicago as we drove toward St. Louis.  He showed us a video of the history of the St. Louis Cardinals.  He later gave everyone a chance to talk about themselves.  I went up to the microphone and spoke about my history with the New York Mets.  We arrived at the motel in Collinsville, IL at 11:15.  We spent about 8 hours today on the bus.

Jay Buckley Baseball Trip Final Comments

If you are a baseball fan, this trip is for you. Don't go if you like vacations when you can sit around the pool. People can certainly take similar trips on their own, but Jay arranges the hotels and transportation for you. His getting the hotel rooms at a group rate, certainly saves money. He has run these tours for 28 years, so it is safe to say that he is successful. Many people have taken several of his tours. Laura Nygaard has been on 25 tours and visited about 46 stadia. There is great camaraderie among the people on the bus. Many have kept in touch for years.

The tour is very fast moving. It can be a little tough to travel all day, see the game, go back to the hotel, go to sleep, eat breakfast and travel to the next city. St. Louis was the only stop where we had a little time to tour the city. I would have like to have spent more time in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Kansas City to see museums and other attractions.

What was the worst part of the tour for me?

Missing Jeopardy for the week. I guess I could have recorded it, but didn't. It didn't go off the air. I also enjoy checking out the radio stations when I visit a city. I had very little time to do it on this trip. I did it in Chicago and on the bus ride through Iowa.

Thinking about a low budget vacation this year

Since we spent a lot of money this year fixing up the kitchen and the bathroom, we will have to spend less money on vacation.  I have three ideas:

1. Cooperstown, NY for the Baseball Hall of Fame.  The problem is that all the hotels close by are already booked for the entire summer.  The closest hotel with a vacancy is in Oneonta about 20 miles away.

2. Cleveland - to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  We were there in 1998, but obviously the museum would have different exhibits.  The issue is that Cleveland is a drab city and there isn't anything else to do there.  We stopped in Cleveland last summer during the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour to see a game at Jacobs Park, but there wasn't time to see the Rock Hall.

3. Baltimore - there are several museums in the Inner Harbor area.  We can see a game or two at Camden Yards.

We have time to decide.

 

Atlanta Vacation This Summer

For several summers we have visited major league cities and booked a hotel within walking distance of the ball park.  We took Jay Buckley Baseball Tours in 2006, 2007, and 2010 and enjoyed them thoroughly.  We have taken trips to Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Cleveland to see ball games among the other attractions in those cities.  This year we will be going to Atlanta,

Baseball Tour - Prelude

Last winter I did some Google searching for baseball tours.  I found that Jay Buckley in La Crosse, Wisconsin runs many such trips each year.  We picked this trip in late August which was most convenient for us.  We would be visiting Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wrigley Field in Chicago, the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis and back to Chicago to see US Cellular Field, home of the White Sox.

 

Tuesday August 22nd.

 

We left the house at 9:30 AM and arrived at LaGuardia Airport at about 10:00 AM.  The line for security was not too bad, but we had to take off our shoes and were not allowed to take liquids on the plane.  American Airlines Flight 325 left on time at 12 noon and we arrived at Chicago-O’Hare at 1:15 PM.  Our motel, the Exel Inn was about 15 minutes away in an industrial area.  We decided to arrive a day early to make sure we met the tour bus on time on Wednesday.  There was just nothing to so at or near this motel except to watch television or read.  A Subway Sandwich shop was the only place within walking distance to eat dinner.

The Mets Won for us 5-2

This was our first ball game since we returned from the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour two weeks ago.  The Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-2.  For details see:

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070715&content_id=2087817&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

This was our fourth game in our seven-pack

Leaving for Cleveland Tomorrow

We are leaving tomorrow morning from Laguardia Airport to visit Cleveland mainly to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  We did this trip in 1998, but obviously museums do change over time. Last year when we were on the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour we saw a Cleveland Indians game, but did not have time to stop at the Rock Hall. I am eager to get away from the work and commuting grind.  In this "information age" people even check their work e-mail when they are vacation.  I even know someone who did that when she went to Greece.  The NJIT Library  will be there next Monday.  Most hotels now offer wireless internet access, but I don't have a laptop computer.  Perhaps this hotel will have a small computer lab, but maybe I should keep away.  I guess I should also take a vacation from the radio message boards.  I will take my personal stereo to check out the radio stations in Cleveland.  I used to make airchecks when I visited a city, but now most radio stations stream.  I will take a pa of paper and will make notes for my journal entries of the trip.  I will return on Friday.