We have spent the past two weeks in California, and Chris and I agree it has been our favorite place so far. Thanks to all the little birdies at Minor League games that gave us free In N Out Burger coupons—we literally ate there for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day that we were in California. If you have never eaten there, get on a plane and go to California. It’s simply delicious.

Special thanks to all of the wonderful people who gave us a roof over our heads—Barry, Yvonne, Jeff and Emilia, Ashok, and Will. We thoroughly enjoyed sleeping on your couches and floors, eating your food, and using your laundry facilities.

Today was our last game in the Bay Area as we headed to AT&T Park to see the Giants take on the Blue Jays. AT&T Park is one of the better stadiums in all of baseball, with a great design offering sweeping views of the water. In case you were wondering, the fans still cheer for Barry Bonds. They still cheered even after the first inning after Barry was embarrassed in the field with his gimp legs that caused him to misplay two different balls that cost the Giants a few runs. Do you know why? Because in the bottom of the 4th, Barry drove a pitch deep into the center field seats, hitting homerun number 747 of his career—helping put the Giants back on top on their way to winning the game.

We were joined tonight by Jeff Wisniewski and Brian Herbert Bronson Johnson, both interesting gentlemen in their own right. Below is a video Jeff shot while we rode the elevator after the game inside the park. The elevator guy sang a song about the game and how the Giants were victorious:

At the Stockton game the other day, we had the pleasure of meeting a bunch of guys who play Vintage Baseball, circa 1886. This stuff is the real deal. The guys play with gloves that are as padded as a batting glove, and the pitchers throw about 60 MPH (or faster) from 50 feet away. The only person with a thicker glove is the catcher. There are a lot of crazy rules—7 balls constitutes a walk, if you get hit by a pitch you still have to bat, and the pitcher can throw the ball whenever he wants, regardless of whether or not the batter is ready for it. After the Ports game was over, these guys took the field to play a game.

Glossary of terms

Ace—run crossing home base
Boodler—ungentlemanly maneuver
Cranks (or Crankettes)—fans
Hippadroming—cheating
Hurler—pitching
Huzzah!—hooray
Muffin—enthusiastic but unskilled player

We were fortunate enough to have a chance to interview one of the players, Barron “Claw” Peterson. Yes that is his real name. If you are not sure what we are talking about, please reference the terms listed above.

As for the game, it was highly entertaining. The umpire/referee used a microphone to explain a lot of the rules of the game as it was happening for all the fans who stayed to watch. I took some pictures, and you can view all of them in my Flickr Set entitled “Vintage Baseball.” It includes one of my favorite pictures that I’ve taken on the trip thus far. Thanks to Dirty Dan, Claw, and Salami for introducing us to vintage baseball.

Now many of you might be familiar with this due to the infamous Conan skit. The main difference is that Conan profiled players who played by 1864 rules (no gloves). If you haven’t seen this yet, I HIGHLY recommend viewing it now:

We arrived in Stockton just two hours before the start of the game, and there was already a long line forming outside the gates. Apparently some fans had been waiting since 11am for the 1pm opening of the gates. That is either some real dedication or just proof of how much there really is to do in Stockton. The Ports play their game at Banner Island Ballpark, which recently opened in 2005 and is situated right by the water (obviously.) It’s a really nice park, complete with batting cages located inside the park, and plenty of various seating options—including different patio seating in the outfield. Thanks to Danielle for hooking us up with a few great raffle items!

It was a rough game for the Ports—the opposing pitcher had a no-hitter going into the 6th inning! They rallied somewhat in the 7th, but it wasn’t enough. Chris and I participated in a new promotion called the Frozen T-Shirt Contest. The basic overview is that the team soaks a t-shirt in water, wraps it up with a rubber band and puts it in the freezer overnight. We then have to race to unwrap the frozen shirt and put it on, the first one to do so wins. Chris was victorious, but let me note that after the contest I felt his t-shirt and it wasn’t even frozen! Meanwhile I felt I was trying to unwrap an ice cube. Here is a short video below:

Visalia is located a bit south of Fresno, in case any of you out there were hoping for a free geography lesson. Recreation Stadium seats only 1,800 people making it the smallest ballpark in California and it might just be the smallest one in all of Minor League baseball. By September, I will be able to confirm that fact. Good news for Oaks fans—after this season, the ballpark is going under major rennovations and will be doubling their seating capacity to 3,600, adding is suite level seating and some additional grass seating in right field. The best part about the changes is that the fans will still people able to sit just 28 feet or so from home plate.

Special thanks to Jennifer and Elana for helping us out at the game. Tonight’s promotion was “Las Vegas” night, where fans (21 and older) played card games and other various games of chance in hopes of winning roundtrip airfare for two to Las Vegas. We were able to have a solid night of fundraising due to the generous Oaks fans that were packed into the intimate seating areas. Next up is a trip back to the Bay Area.

For the 2nd straight night we had the pleasure of seeing the L.A. Dodgers, this time at Dodger Stadium. Before the game we were brought down to the field to check out batting practice and conduct a short interview for a local network broadcasting the Dodgers game. I had a chance watch one of my favorite 90s players, Frank Thomas, take batting practice for the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. He’s a bit older and obviously his best years are behind him, but he is still the size of a small house and launched quite a few balls into the left field bleachers. Special thanks to Noel for getting us down to the field and giving us a great item for our end of the year auction!

We were joined by special guests Yvonne and Dylan, who have been kind enough to provide a roof over our heads during our time here in L.A. Tonight’s game featured a free beach towel giveaway to the 52,000 fans in attendance. The most entertaining part of the game actually had nothing to do with the on field action. A small number of fans brought beach balls to the game and at any given time there were 5 or 6 of them floating around certain sections. The entertaining part was watching the security/ticket ushers trying to take the beach balls away from the fans and failing miserably. It got to the point where fans were taunting the ushers, offering to give them the beach ball before hitting it away from them back into the crowd.

The game ended in dramatic fashion, and we witnessed our 2nd walkoff homerun in a week. With the Dodgers down by a run in the bottom of the 10th inning, the leadoff batter walked. Two pitches later, Olmedo Saenz (nickname: the Killer Tomato) sent a ball into the outfield stands that scored two runs and won the game for the Dodgers. Needless to say, the place was going wild. All in all, it was a good night at Dodger Stadium. Thanks to Joellen at StubHub for getting us four tickets to tonight’s game!

On our way down to San Diego, I received a phone call informing me that Curt Schilling was on the verge of throwing a no-hitter in Oakland. Unreal! We were just there on Monday, and of course today was the day to be there (although the Monday game was pretty good.) Unfortunately as you all know the no-hitter was broken up with one out to go in the bottom of the 9th. Tonight we headed to Petco Park to see the Padres take on the Dodgers. Much like the A’s/Red Sox game, the crowd was split 50/50 in terms of Padres and Dodgers fans. The video below was taken of two Padres fans hoping to get on the jumbotron. Our conversation includes such topics as bananas, cannabilism, gangs, and so much more.

Petco Park is a very nice stadium which you notice as soon as you enter the gates. The outside is covered in a brown stucco, with waterfalls and plants lining the stairs up the field. There are also tons of different options for seating which offers fans many different views of the ballpark. I really like when a ballpark can make use of existing architecture, and the Padres park has been able to include the Western Metal Supply company building, a hundred-year old structure that was saved and incorporated into the design of the ballpark. The building was renovated and contains the team store, private suites, a restaurant and rooftop seating. The corner of the building even serves as the left field foul-pole. And for those who can’t afford suites—the Park at the Park, a grassy berm sloping above the outfield fence, is open during game time allowing fans to sit and watch games for a small price of $5.

As for the game, the Padres staged a massive bottom of the ninth inning comeback that was capped off with a not so dramatic winning run that was walked in from 3rd base. We will have a chance to catch the Dodgers again tomorrow might when we see them in L.A.

After a long drive, we arrived in Anaheim just in time to get in to see the Angels take on the Twins. The Angels play their games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, a name that is almost as long as their team name. Originally in 1997, a sponsorship deal was reached with Edison International, giving it the naming rights over the stadium for 20 years. The ballpark was nicknamed “The Big Ed.” In a rare naming rights move, Edison International exercised its option to exit the sponsorship deal in 2003. The stadium went back to its current name and is now known as “The Big A.” In a nice sunny afternoon game, the crowd was out in full force making me begin to wonder if anyone actually works during the day in California. Unfortunately to the dismay of the home crowd, the visiting Twins overpowered the Angels today.

Next up were the High Desert Mavericks who play in a small town of Adelanto. How can one describe the town of Adelanto? Well, think back to when Marty Mcfly goes back in time to Hill Valley in 1955 and he shows up to his neighborhood that hasn’t been built yet. Adelanto is sorta like the town that hasn’t been built yet, but it does have unlimited possibilities. We thought it was cold the other night in Modesto, but it was nothing compared to tonight in Adelanto. Stater Brothers Stadium is built in such a way that when the wind kicks up, you can really feel it throughout the concourse. Tonight we raffled off a team signed bat but it ended up being an early night. By the time we were done making our way through the stands in the 5th inning, many people had given up on being cold and started to head out. Thanks to Autumn for getting us a great raffle item and getting us food at the game.

Just when you think you never have to go to another Education/Kids Day, one more appears on the schedule in West Sacramento. Chris and I made the best of it selling raffle tickets for our severely discounted kids day price of 25 cents a piece. The RiverCats play their games at Raley Field, which is a very nice stadium that was built in 2000. Since opening its new ballpark, Sacramento has led all of minor league baseball in attendance during each of its first seven seasons at Raley Field (source). Before we knew it our final Education Day was over and we headed down to Modesto for our second game.

Onto Modesto, to see the Modesto Nuts (formerly the Modesto Athletics) who play their games at John Thurman Field. The ballpark was built over 50 years ago back in 1955, and after recent renovations it can now hold 4,000 people. It was a rare chilly night in Modesto, and when I say chilly I mean it was less 60 degrees with a bit of a breeze. That doesn’t sound terrible unless you are used to 75 degrees every night and 85 degrees during the day. Even Chris and I were felt the evening chill. The crowd was a bit sparse and bundled up with their blankets and hot chocolate. Thanks to Will and Matt for helping us out during the night. Chris decided to warm them up with an acapella version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Prepare yourself mentally before watching this clip.

Formerly the Philadelphia Athletics, this team now resides in Oakland after making a brief stop in Kansas City during the 1950s. Today’s Athletics are led by a different kind of Connie Mack-like baseball guy named Billy Beane, who is one of the more well known GMs in baseball (and subject of the very well written baseball book Moneyball by Michael Lewis.) The A’s play their games at McAfee Coliseum, which is also home for the terrible Oakland Raiders. Due to the overwhelming size, the Athletics decided to close the top level of seats and cover it with green tarp, reducing the total number of seats in the stadium to just over 34,000. This is the same strategy used in other ballparks that are primarily used in other stadiums such as the Florida Marlins, with the only difference being that the tarp covering actually looks pretty good and masks the fact that McAfree Coliseum is actually better suited for a football game.

Tonight’s game was a sold-out match up between the As and the visiting Boston Red Sox. We were joined by Jeff and Will, of the A’s Superfan Network (see picture here.) It is safe to say that approximately 50% of the fans in the seats were Red Sox fans. Where do they all come from? Seriously, how do 17,000 Red Sox fans appear out of no where in Oakland? And these are not just casual fans, of course. These are your super-intense, Fever Pitch type caliber Red Sox fans cheering on every play. I’ve noticed the same thing happens when the Red Sox come to Philadelphia for interleague play (although I’m sure more of these are fans from Boston.)

The game was dramatic for several reasons. The A’s Dan Haren was lights out—he currently leads the AL with a 6-2 record, and a 1.70 ERA. 1.70 ERA! How does this guy have two losses? Haren only made two bad pitches during the night, and they were unfortunately solo home runs hit by the Red Sox. He left the game after pitching 4 outs away from a 4-2 victory, but the Red Sox rallied in the top of the ninth to tie the game. It was at this point that the Red Sox Nation in attendance went crazy, to the point where a Red Sox fan in our row got into a screaming match with an elderly As fan (in attendance with his 8-year old granddaughter mind you). The argument peaked when the Red Sox fan used several expletives and threatened to take the As fan’s life for no other reason besides the fact that he cheered for the As. Meanwhile, a huge fight broke out in the upper level—and my guess it wasn’t over an argument over the impact of global warming.

The game ended up going into extra innings, with Eric Chavez ending the night with a walkoff homerun for the As. More taunts and jeers were being thrown around and mini-scuffles breaking out in the concourse.

Special thanks to Joellen from StubHub for helping us out with tickets to tonight’s game! If you need tickets to any game, concert, or even theatre show Stubhub.com is the place to get them with a 100% guarantee.