Today marks the halfway point of our trip in terms of days—we left Philadelphia on April 3rd, and will eventually return on September 9th. We’ve seen a lot of baseball and raised a lot of money, but we are ready to crank it up a notch and power through the last 99 games. Tonight was the home opener for the Idaho Falls Chukars, who just recently redesigned their ballpark in the offseason. Melaleuca Field was originally built in 1940 and has gone through a few renovations, but this year the team tore down the entire structure only leaving the field. They rebuilt a whole new structure, complete with luxury suites and brand new seating. From what I was told by local fans, the new ballpark is a huge upgrade. The pre-game ceremony included Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, making his rounds on the campaign trail for 2008.

The fans were super pumped for the new ballpark, as you can see in the picture above. Huge lines formed an hour before the gates even opened. The Chukars were taking Orem Owlz (who we just saw two days prior) and came out victorious 4-1 for a great opening night win. It was good to see Zach and Jason from the Owlz making the trip up from Orem to support their team. They were probably the only people in the packed stands cheering for Orem. Speaking of the crowd, everyone was in good spirits which helped us raise our 2nd highest total yet (right behind Fresno)! Thanks to Andrew for helping us out on such a crazy night.

We started the day thinking we had off, and had plenty of time to make the 7-hour drive to Casper, Wyoming. Turns out we had a game today and realized it when we woke up. Thirty minutes later we were on our way to Wyoming heading to see the Casper Rockies take on the Idaho Falls Chukars (not a misspelling.) As it turns out, we missed a raucous opening day game the night before, but tonight at the ballpark was “Guaranteed Win Wednesday”—if the Rockies did not win the game, every fan was offered a ticket to a future Rockies game. If the Phillies did that, they would be in trouble as they are currently approaching their landmark 10,000th loss.

We did a lot at the ballpark tonight—I threw out the first pitch, went on the radio for an inning, and had a great raffle for a team signed bat. Special thanks to Matt and his staff for helping us out tonight! The fans were especially generous and we raised a good amount of money for the size of the crowd. As for the game, it went into extra innings and the Chukars eventally came out victorious, meaning that everyone at the ballpark got a free ticket for a future game. I think “Guaranteed Win Wednesday” is one of my favorite promotions I’ve seen so far. Tomorrow we have the day off as we make our way back across Wyoming to the great potato loving state of Idaho.

Today we arrived in Orem for Opening Day of the Pioneer League. The Orem Owlz were first up, as they played the visiting Ogden Raptors. The fans packed it in as over 3,400 people were in attendance for opening night. Chris and I have had the experience of seeing how hard the staff at Minor League parks work for any given game, but this was the first night we saw an opening day game for any team. The Owlz staff was in overdrive making sure everything was ready for the first pitch. They did a great job and were even able to accommodate us and help us out by getting us a great prize for our raffle. Thanks to Zach and Nick for helping us out tonight! With the Owlz down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs, they rallied with four consecutive hits and cut the lead to just 4-3. Unfortunately for the Owlz, they weren’t able to send the game into extra innings but they did give the fans an exciting finish.

For those of you in the Orem area, be sure to catch the July 6th home game. After the game, you can stay and sit in the outfield and watch The Sandlot on the video board out in right center field.

Today we had the pleasure of meeting up with Tim Sapir, former member of the original Tour for the Cure, who works at a killer resort in the Vail area. Chris and I spent most of the day next to the pool reading, relaxing and drinking Coca-Colas.

Currently reading: the super intense “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” before the last hurrah of Harry Potter. Speaking of Harry Potter, did you know you can see what the Harry-est towns in America are? Based on the number of pre-sales for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Amazon lists the top Harry-est towns across the country. Good to see Doylestown, PA in the Top Ten. Tomorrow it’s back to work as we head up to see the Orem Owlz’ home opener.

Back to Denver, to see the Colorado Rockies take on the ferocious Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We were invited on to the field for a pre-game ceremony for a Tour for the Cure shout out. All three of us practiced our wave to the camera/jumbotron face before the game so we totally nailed our wave to the camera and jumbotron appearance. We had the chance to meet Jason Hirsh, a starting pitcher for the Rockies and one of the tallest men I’ve ever met. Thanks to Beth and Antigone for getting us onto the field today!

The Rockies are the hottest team in the MLB since mid-May. Coincidentally, watching a game at Coors field in the direct sun is one of the hottest experiences you will ever have at a ballpark. At the time of the game, the Rockies they were an astounding 17-3 in their last 20 games. Unfortunately they didn’t win—Scott Kazmir and company spoiled the Rockies Father’s Day game. As of this writing, the Rockies just swept the Yankees and now stand a few games above .500. Tomorrow we have off and will slowly make our way back to Utah.

The Sky Sox play their games at Security Service Field, and are celebrating their 20th season at the ballpark this year. Did you know—the Sky Sox stadium is at the highest elevation of any stadium in the country? It’s true. And for all you Phillies fans, if you ever were wondering where Charlie Manuel got his managerial experience, look no further to the Colorado Sky Sox. In 1992 he lead the Sky Sox to a Pacific Coast League Championship. He is also known for adopting the slogan “go to the mountain, boys” in reference to the mountain range located out past center field.

Thanks to Ira for getting us a signed ball tonight from Carney Lansford, the current hitting coach of the Sky Sox. For all of you not familiar with Carney, he used to play on the Oakland A’s during their World Series reign in the late 1980s. Carney is also a direct descendant of Sir Francis Drake—I’m guessing he is the only descendant of Sir Francis Drake to also have a World Series Championship Ring.

This is what Chris and I do when we celebrate. Photo Credit: Edyta.

We arrived in Denver and were joined once more by the lovely Edyta, the only person who has joined Chris and I so far on the Tour. The three of us spent our first day swimming, and seeing the sights at Dinosaur Ridge and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre (see picture above.)

Our second day was more cultural in nature, as we had the opportunity to check out the Denver Museum of Art—and by chance they had a temporary Lou Gehrig/Babe Ruth exhibit of photographs instead of the regular installation of Impressionist paintings (traveling somewhere in France.) In the more modern art space, there were an interesting collection of quirky pieces. Edyta even tried to add herself to one of the installations. After spending the rest of the afternoon at the 16th Street Mall (the outside pedestrian retail center), we headed to the cinema to see the latest masterpiece from Judd Apatow, Knocked Up. It will definitely be one of the better movies of this summer, and all of us would highly recommend this fine film.

Salt Lake City is not quite a city, more like a small town surrounded by tons of huge mountains. Our day in Salt Lake consisted of lots of Mormons shopping in Wal-Mart, getting our car cleaned and washed, and eating food that was not In ‘N Out Burger.

As you can see from the picture above, Franklin Covey Field offers some crazy views of the Wasatch Mountains over the left and center field walls. The park was pretty busy tonight, but unfortunately the Bees fans did not show much love for us or our cause, as fundraising was a bit on the weak side. This was probably due to the fact that the Bees don’t usually hold raffles at their games, so perhaps the Salt Lake Fans were not familiar with the concept. We are grateful to be able to come to Franklin Covey and we appreciate all of the fans that helped us out tonight.

We have the next two days off and will head to Denver to relax and enjoy the sights and sounds the city has to offer.