FACT: We brought the house down in Tucson.

Tonight it was there was a Brandon Webb giveaway, the 2006 Cy Young for the Diamondbacks. We had a really fun night at the game, due to the fact that we had some awesome raffle prizes and everyone at the stadium was super nice and generous. In fact, one of our prizes, a Sidewinders insulated lunchbox, was so cool that someone stole it from our table as we made our way through the stands. So if your co-worker came in on Monday with a sweet Sidewinders lunchbox, it’s probably the same guy who stole your stapler a few months back. Moving on to the game—and what a game it was! The Sidewinders fell behind 8-1 in the 5th inning before rallying and mounting one of the biggest comebacks of the season to pull out a 11-9 victory over the visiting team.

Tonight at the game we had the chance to meet Jennie Finch, the crazy awesome softball pitcher who won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics. Her fastball can reach 100 MPH. She was kind enough to sign a TFTC mini-bat that we will use at our end of the year auction. Pretty rad.

Thanks to Naomi and the rest of the Sidewinders staff for everything!

We had the day in Albuquerque to catch up on various fun such as oil changes and shopping at Walmart. If the name Isotopes sounds like a familiar baseball team name, think back to the Simpsons episode entitled “Hungry Hungry Homer” where Homer finds out that the owner of the Springfield Isotopes is secretly trying to move to the team to Albuquerque. Well, in 2003 a team did come to Albuquerque and it was named the Isotopes (based on the Simpsons) by the fans.

Isotopes Park is a great place to see a game, especially because of the mountains that provide a pleasant scenic backdrop. It’s also a fairly large stadium, seating over 11,000. One word of warning—Chris and I were given some hot dogs and soda tonight by one of the lovely seating attendants. I had one bite and realized that the hot dog wasn’t a good idea. I am not alone in my opinion—Ballparkwatch.com shares my same thoughts, stating: “I had the worst hot dog I’ve ever eaten at a ballpark in Albuquerque. The bun was stale, and the dog was cold and tasteless. Not remotely close to being worth the $2.75 charged by the team.” So if you go to Isotopes Park, stick to the popcorn.

…and we spent it driving 12 hours to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Our last games in Texas! The Texas Rangers and Frisco RoughRiders both play their games in the Dallas area, so we had to get up super early and hit the road in order to make it to our first game of the day. The Rangers ballpark in Arlington is actually quite nice, and there is something about the old school grandstand in right field that has a certain charm to it. Sure, it’s probably a pain to sit behind, but it adds character to the feel of the park. We got there a bit early today to witness the Twins taking batting practice, and I tried to snag some homerun balls hit into the stands. Unfortunately I came up empty due to the fact that I didn’t have my glove and also because people go psycho for balls that land in the seats. It was Dollar Dog Day at the Rangers game, and that picture above is a hot dog that was sacrificed while some poor non-ambidextrous fan tried to catch a ball during BP. I also noticed that they have a Sammy Sosa homerun count banner hanging in right field, although it doesn’t seem to be too big of a big deal (as of today’s game, he is at 598). We had to leave the game a little early to take care of some car/transportation issues, but we did get to catch Justin Morneau of the Twins rip a homerun into the stands. Thanks to Sherry and Jenny for helping us out at today’s game and getting us some good stuff for our end of the year auction!

Later we drove up to Frisco to see the RoughRiders at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Now at most stadiums there is either the choice of beverages from two soda companies—Coke or Pepsi (Coke being the far superior beverage family of choice.) So which beverage family does Dr. Pepper belong to? Excuse the tangent for a minute but Dr. Pepper has an interesting back story. Originally in the 80s Dr. Pepper tried to merge with Coke, but the FTC didn’t allow for it to happen. Dr. Pepper then joined forces with 7-UP after the failed merger with Coke. In 1995, Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. was purchased by Cadbury Schweppes and The Carlyle Group. However, outside the US the rights to Dr. Pepper are owned by Coke and the rights to 7-UP are controlled by Pepsi. By 2006, Cadbury Schweppes had bought out the Carlyle Group’s interest and folded Dr. Pepper/7-UP into Cadbury Schweppes’ operations. Who knew the history of a soft drink could be so tumultuous?

Back to the ballpark—Dr. Pepper park is one of the most uniquely designed ballparks we’ve been too. The person behind the design claims to have wanted to “create a park within a ballpark.” The inside of the ballpark has dirt/rock paths and has been compared to the look and feel of Churchill Downs. It’s a crazy aesthetic that almost doesn’t feel like a baseball park but somehow it works. One downside is that the park has one of the highest ticket prices in all of Minor League Baseball—the prices range between $7 and $18 for a ticket. $18 for a Minor League game, holy smokes! These prices apparently do not deter fans from coming out, and the attendance each year has been one of highest in all of the Minor Leagues.

Thanks to Cristal for taking care of us tonight at the ballpark! It was a good way to end our travels in Texas. We left the stadium tonight headed towards New Mexico.

Round Rock is located just north of Austin, and the Express is the other Texas team owned by Nolan Ryan. Dell Diamond is definitely one of the top ballparks we’ve been too, very similar to Whatabuger Field in Corpus Christi. Tonight’s giveaway was a Nolan Ryan statue, keeping in line with the Nolan giveaway trend at both ballparks. The design is very similar to Whataburger field, without the little league field. One of the differentiating features is the grandstand in left field, one of the only (if not, the only) ballparks I’ve seen with a full two-level grandstand in the outfield. Other features include a swimming pool and hot tub behind right field, basketball courts, and two “Berm Ball” (a.k.a wall ball) courts behind center field.

We couldn’t fundraise tonight due to the fact that ABC was holding casting calls for the next season of the Bachelor. Many single young ladies turned out in hopes of being casted for a show whose novelty wore off about five seasons ago. Again, if you ever are in Texas please do check out one of Nolan Ryan’s teams—both stadiums are top notch.

What a great day in San Antonio! We had to compete with the Spurs playoff game, but the crowd that showed up on a slightly overcast day were some of the most generous folk we have come across yet! Special thanks to Mickey for all the help and for the special team donation… it made for one of the highest fundraising totals of the Tour. I also had the chance to go on the radio during the 2nd inning of today’s game.The Tour for the Cure was in full effect in San Antonio.

Today’s game was a special day for the team’s mascot, Ballapeno, which is like “jalapeno” with a hint of baseball mixed in—get it? Ballapeno was celebrating his birthday today and was joined by some other characters from the Star Wars Society of San Antonio! This is a group who actually will dress up as Star Wars characters and appear in public at your event (for real). In speaking with the woman dressed as a jedi, she told me that you have to be approved by Lucasfilm because they own the copyright to the Star Wars costumes. Luckily for her she knows Peter Mayhew, who you may know as Chewbacca. Way to use the force, indeed. I managed to get some pics of Darth Vader and a storm trooper before we left for the day.

Tonight’s game was the first of two Nolan Ryan owned teams in Texas. The Corpus Christi Hooks play their games at the recently built Whataburger Field, which is definitely one of the nicest ballparks we’ve been to on the Tour to date. Whataburger, headquartered in Corpus Christi, is a delicious fast food restaurant that specializes in serving genuinely real hamburgers, unlike those of other typical fast food burger joints. It has quickly become a favorite of mine in the short time we have been here in Texas.

The ballpark is located right on the waterfront and has a great view of the Harbor Bridge from almost anywhere. Inside the park, there is something for everyone. Kids can play on basketball courts, climb a rock wall, go behind right field, and so much more. The coolest feature of the stadium is the fact that it has a little league field built in behind center field. When I got there two local teams were finishing up their game, and got to watch the Hooks game afterwards. Did you know—Whataburger Field was built on the site of old cotton warehouses (source).

Back to Nolan Ryan—the fans go crazy for anything Nolan Ryan related. Tonight they were giving away a special edition Nolan Ryan Hall of Fame Angels figurine to the first 2,500 fans. By the time we got to the park at 6:15, all the figurines had been given away, almost an hour before the game!

During tonight’s game we weren’t able to do any fundraising but I was given the opportunity to go on the Hooks radio and talk about the Tour for an inning. Special thanks to Matt for giving me a tour of the ballpark and also for a sweet fitted Hooks hat, which has now become my official driving hat. So if you are ever in the Corpus Christi area, I definitely recommend checking out a game at Whataburger Field—it’s definitely one of the nicest ballparks in the Minors.

Tonight’s game was “Western Night” at Minute Maid Park, so it was appropriate that our at our first game in Texas we received cowboy hats. However, this post will mainly highlight one thing—my inability lately to throw a good first pitch. Let me start off by saying I’m already dreading the comments that will come from the video in this post. As you might recall, our first pitch in Cincinnati did not go as planned, I threw a last second curveball that got away from Chris. I took the mound again today and tried to redeem the Tour for the Cure. Alas, it was probably my worst first pitch to date. Now I know how to throw a first pitch. I used to play baseball for many years, it’s not rocket science. But after driving for 6 hours, and combining that with not having an opportunity to warm up my arm at all and having Chris behind the plate, I was pretty much setting myself up for disaster. So without further ado, here it is below.


If you listen closely, you can even hear the announcer heckling us. Before long word will get out that I can’t handle first pitch responsibilities and will soon be banned from all pre-game activities.

Minute Maid Park is a great stadium, and although you might catch a glimpse of it on tv I must say it looks a lot better in person. If you are looking for a good place to go in Houston, Minute Maid park is a pretty good place to be.

After the game, we headed to see my former fellow CFARian and current rockstar Matt O’Dowd and the rest of Liam and Me who happened to be on tour in the same city as us. Tonight’s show was the first sell out of the tour, and it probably had something to do with the fact that both Matt and I were going to be in the same building that brought all the people together. Liam and Me has just finished recording their first record and are touring across the US and A much like the Tour for the Cure trying to spread the good word. It was good to trade stories about life on the road and talk with people who can relate to living out of their car. Click here to see a few different pictures from the night. Afterwards we headed to a random mansion-esque house north of Texas for the night was big enough to house both the Liam and Me entourage plus the Tour for the Cure team. It was a good night, and by the end I had almost forgotten how badly I blew the first pitch at the Astros game.

Last week we had our official stop in Louisville to see the Bats play. Before the game, Chris and I had a chance to stop by the offices of Louisville Slugger, who happen to be our presenting sponsor. We are thrilled to be working side by side with a company so entrenched in the baseball world such as Louisville Slugger and were looking forward to finally meeting the people who have made this year’s trip possible.

Let me start off by saying the Louisville Slugger Factory Tour is probably one of the coolest tours you will probably ever see, especially if you are even remotely interested in baseball. We don’t have any photos or video due to the fact they don’t allow you to take any on the tour (take heed, industry spies!)—so you will have to use your imagination while I describe it. As you walk through the factory, you can actually see bats being made. It starts from a giant log, and a machine extracts six or so bat-sized selections of wood and by the time its done the log looks like an empty chamber of a revolver. Those wood extracts are then put into another machine that then shape the bat perfectly, shaving off the bulk of the wood. Now at this point, you would think there would be a ton of sawdust everywhere—and you would be right. A huge vacuum system helps suck up all the sawdust in the air and on the floor. The bat is then branded and customized and then dipped in paint or given a particular finish. And just like that, you have a brand new Louisville Slugger bat. There are a ton of details that I am leaving out, but feel free to see everything available by taking a virtual tour.

Did you know the first person to have their own professional endorsement was Honus Wagner? Honus signed a deal in 1905 with Louisville Slugger and thus paved the way for the Michael Jordans and LeBron James of the world to get millions and millions from endorsement deals. Honus also happens to have the most expensive baseball card ever produced.

As for the museum, its filled with a giant wall of every player who has had a Louisville Slugger bat deal with their own personal signatures. They include the more famous names like Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, along with some random obscure names that no one will ever remember. This place is bursting at the seams (baseball pun, zing!) with baseball history, and with the exception of Cooperstown, I can’t think of a better place that has such a deep connection the world of baseball. We were able to get one video of what it would be like to face Roger Clemens and a 90 MPH fastball. Check out the video below, and watch as they simulate a pitch from the Rocket himself.

A second straight 8-hour travel day, and boy are our arms tired. After the long journey, we arrived at our hotel only to find out it was the wrong one—the correct hotel with the same name was located just a few blocks away. After a brief tour through the French Quarter we headed to Zephyr Field, which is located slightly outside the city of New Orleans. The game was a throwback to the year 1997—Chan Ho Park was pitching, Sandy Alomar Jr. (yes, he still plays) was catching. Ricky Ledee, a former Phillie and Dodger was even playing in the outfield. This team’s lineup is practically on par with that of the Washington Nationals! (After doing some research, it turns out the Zephyrs were indeed an affiliate of the Nationals until this year—they are now a triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets and I’m sure could fight for 4th place in the NL East.)

Thanks to Marc for getting us two great items for our raffle! It was another great night for fundraising (our 2nd highest night to date) and we were thrilled to be welcomed so kindly by the Zephyrs fans. Tomorrow: Houston Astros.