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Yo-ho, Friday! The workweek always feels so tough after a long weekend, don’t you think?

And when you move halfway across the country over the long weekend and the first morning back at work comes two hours earlier than normal, the workweek happens on a whole different level of horror.

Chris plans to spend the weekend setting a PB for hours spent on patios, offset by some geeky touristing on bikes. Michelle’s weekend will involve a girls’ night out, good workouts and some freelance work, too.

On our list for the week:

• Our jaws dropped at this photo essay called “Where Children Sleep“.
• And we loved this piece by Joanna Goddard on how to talk to little girls. It’ll forever change what we say to little girls. (Hmmm, there’s a kid theme this week. Someone misses their nephews terribly.)
• Skype works well for cooing at nephews from a distance. But the best tool for making free long distance calls to a land line is Google Talk. It’s a lifesaver for freelancers working away from home.
• Our limbs thanked us for purchasing exfoliating gloves from Quorra. We are now smooth from head to toe.
• Burgers at The Trop. Michelle ate there for the first time this week and was impressed. She was even more impressed when she discovered The Trop allows you to choose two side sishes. Yum.
• Paddywax candles, made with recycled wine bottles, make for a beautiful hostess or housewarming gift. The collection, found recently at Steeling Home, features fantastic scent combos like Bordeaux Fig and Vetiver.

~The Toque Girls

–

Chris Perez blew just his second save of the year last night on a bases loaded single against the Minnesota Twins. But the blown save was only the beginning of the night for Perez. He went to Twitter to take out his anger. One fan attempted to push Perez over the edge with this tweet:

“real classy”

Chris Perez did no wrong. At this point he could have lost his cool and fought back, but he took the smart way out with a tweet that just showed disappointment in the crazed fan. Both hits off Perez in the inning came off of broken bats.

Chris Perez came back shortly after with:

ChrisPerez54 Chris Perez
It takes an outing like that to find out the true Tribe fans

Another valid point. No real fan would say that while knowing all of the circumstances. I know one game can make the difference in the end, but it’s only one game. The baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. There is no reason to “burn down the season” over one rough night.

–

Tropicana Field has always been a questionable venue for the Tampa Bay Rays. But its flaws have been highlighted this past week on two separate occasions. On Sunday night, a nationally televised game, a pop over the 3rd base coaches box struck a light, causing it to shatter, and the glass to fall down to the turf. The game was then delayed for several minutes as the glass had to be picked up. If that wasn’t a bad enough incident, then look forward to Tuesday night when the Rays hosted the Yankees. A harmless fly ball was lifted to center fielder, but it was somehow nowhere to be found. The ball was not stuck in the infamous catwalks over the field but Curtis Granderson just lost the ball in the white roof of the dome, as result the ball dropped and ended up being a key play in a close Rays win.

Note the white roof

Since as previously mentioned, the Rays are in no position to move out of Tropicana Field due to the lease that the city of St. Petersberg has on the Rays, lets look at some of the goods that it does provide. The most unique thing that baseball has to offer is home field advantage. I’m not talking about the just fans, but also the venue itself. Only in baseball can the home team determine the dimensions of the playing surface. So why is it bad that they have an advantage that is larger than most? Everyone worshiped how the Twins took full advantage of the recently retired Metrodome. They knew just how the ball would bounce at all times. The same applies here for the Rays. They have the advantage of playing of playing there everyday, knowing how the ball will look, bounce, fly, and more. So instead of mocking the Rays for the building they play in, maybe we should envy them for the advantage they have.

–

The Rangers extended their win streak to 12 in a row on Tuesday evening, only two shy of the franchise record at 14. Everyone already knows of the power and speed that the Texas line-up generates, but did you about this amazing pitching. After losing Cliff Lee to the Phillies in the offseason most thought the Rangers pitching staff would be nothing. During this win streak they have been quite the opposite. Over the last 6 games the Rangers have a team ERA of just 0.33. What that means is they are only allowing 1/3 of an earned run per game, over the last six games. Or if you would rather look at whole numbers, that’s two runs over the last six games, or 56 innings.

Is this team so good that I think they will win every game for the rest of the season or anywhere close to that? Absolutely not. But I believe we have reached the point where the Rangers will run away with the American League West and not look back. They currently sit 5 games ahead of the second place Angels and 12.5 games ahead of the third place Mariners. The next two nights may be without question the toughest for the win streak to continue. On Wednesday night the face Dan Haren, and Thursday afternoon it gets no easier as they will duel with All-Star Jared Weaver.

With that said, we really kinda wish we could attend Super Sam Fuld Cape Day at the Trop.

Wearing a cape is a true fashion statement. It either says 'I'm a superhero,' 'I'm retarded,' or 'I'm drunk.' Guess which one we are.

The Rays might just be the Major League champions of promotional giveaways in 2011. We haven’t looked over the schedules for every team, but they’re definitely on to something with this whole ‘buy a ticket to the ballgame and stay for a concert’ deal, which they’re doing several times this year featuring artists who, while we’re not into them, are at least legitimately famous. They’re also giving away a variety of t-shirts and a few different bobbleheads, as well as a Joe Maddon coin bank which looks more like Phil Rizzuto and an Evan Longoria cereal bowl and spoon set. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve slurped down the last dregs of milk and been frustrated and disappointed not to see a big league 3rd baseman staring back at us. We’re definitely going to be eBay-ing that one.

But the Super Sam Fuld cape absolutely takes the cake. Sure, Fuld is having a great year, but ultimately we’re not sure he’ll ever be more than the answer to an obscure trivia question many years down the road. To us this may be something on the order of the Rollie Fingers wax mustache or the Dustin Pedroia temp-tramp-stamp tattoo. (Okay, we made both of those up, but they could be true.) To our mind, this is absolutely the greatest giveaway since last year’s vuvuzela night in Miami.

The only downside to this awesome, incredible giveaway? It’s only for kids 14 and under. Those little punks have all the fun.

First things first

Then we grabbed a couple of corndogs

That’s right…kiss the ring bitches!

Found our seats

That didn’t last very long though. As soon as the Rays management heard that we were here, they gave us a little upgrade

7th Inning Stretch

Post Game Concert with Bret Michaels

We were stoked!

This family was stoked!

This guy was REALLY stoked!

What a great night! See everybody next time!

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At 4:15 AM on Friday morning, I still hadn’t fallen asleep. My alarm
was set to go off at 6 AM and I had a long day ahead of me (much longer than I
could have ever presumed). As I was lying in bed, tossing and turning, I
couldn’t begin to comprehend that in a few short hours I would be in St.
Petersburg, FL at Tropicana Field within feet of my favorite players. Finally,
I dozed off and it seemed like only five minutes later, a loud buzzer woke me
up. I was too excited to realize how little sleep I got, and really didn’t care
that I would be facing my day on two hours of sleep. All I could think about
was a group of guys that consume my everyday thoughts and emotions, and how I
was about to experience what I love more than anything else in this world: Red
Sox baseball.

My dad and I headed to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at 6:30 AM and
boarded our flight to Tampa. We sat in our seats and waited patiently for the
rest of the passengers to board. I couldn’t help but notice five or six people
wearing Red Sox hats walk on to the plane and take a seat as well. I’m somewhat
of a social butterfly and love meeting new people, especially ones who share
the same love that I have for baseball and the Red Sox. So, I made my way over
to talk to a couple a few rows ahead of me. They were very kind, and they were
headed down to see the games as well. They go to Sox games every year in
different cities. Last year they went to Fenway and this year they were headed
to the Trop just like me! I talked a little bit with a few other Red Sox fans
and it’s absolutely amazing to me how one little symbol (the Boston
“B”) can bring so many people together. I always find a way to talk
baseball with people and this was no different! During the flight, I was
finally able to start reading “The Teammates” by David Halberstam. It
was recommended to me by a few of my Twitter followers so I had to check it
out. I absolutely love it so far and it was the perfect read to start my
exciting trip.

After we landed (which wasn’t the smoothest landing, I might add), we got our
luggage, ran some errands (we had to buy some baseballs so we could hopefully
get a few autographs) and finally made it to the hotel. We quickly changed,
went to grab a late lunch then finally headed over to the Trop. As we pulled up
to the stadium, I couldn’t believe that we were actually going to be watching
baseball in a dome. I had never been to a dome baseball stadium and it just
didn’t seem right. We arrived around 4:40 and the gates opened at 5:10, two
hours before game time. As soon as we got in, I looked around, certain I was in
a mall. I raced down to the third base wall and stood next to tons of other
screaming Red Sox fans. I was in awe. There’s just something about a baseball
field, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, that truly makes me happy. There’s
nothing else like it. And, to top it all off, the whole team was right there,
stretching and getting ready to start batting practice.  

Watching BP was fun, mainly because I love watching all the guys warm-up and
joke around with each other. All of the players walked by, a few acknowledging
the fans (Ryan Kalish and Daniel Nava were two that really stood out), but most
were too preoccupied to give us the attention that we wanted. I wasn’t able to
get an autograph the first night, but I really didn’t care because I was just
so happy to finally be there. The game went great, we beat the Rays 3-1 and Jon
Lester and Victor Martinez really stepped up at a very crucial time. Lester
went seven innings, giving up only one unearned run off two hits. He struck out
ten, while walking five on 106 pitches. It was definitely a turnaround from his
previous outing. VMart belted two homeruns that night and caught what Terry
Francona said was “the game of his life.” Daniel Bard came in for the
8th inning to set-up for Jonathan Papelbon who closed the game out and recorded
his 33rd save on the season. After the game, they allowed fans to walk on the
field and exit through center field. My dad and I decided that we wanted to do
that, and we were able to take some great pictures. It was a perfect ending to
a perfect day.

Luckily, on Saturday, my dad let me sleep in to catch up on the sleep I missed
out on the night before. I wasted a lot of my day by not waking up till 1 PM,
but I really needed it. After I got ready, we ate a late lunch again and then
headed back over to the field. I decided that I wanted to be closer to the
dugout this time so I could watch parts of the NESN pre-game show. I was at the
wall, right next to the dugout and it was great being able to see some of the
behind-the-scenes action of the broadcast. As soon as I reached the field, I
noticed Elizabeth Dreeson (@redsoxgirl46)
was on the field and I had to take some pictures for her! She was able to meet
a lot of the players and even interviewed Darnell McDonald (you can check out
her blog with her latest post about her adventures here)! The next person I noticed
was Heidi Watney. She was getting ready to do her portion of the pre-game show
and was sitting right in front of me. After she finished, a few of the fans
called her over for autographs. She graciously came over and signed for
everyone, including me, and was even nice enough to take a picture with me. It
really meant a lot, because she does hold the position that I would love to
possess some day. It showed me the type of person she is and I was pleasantly
surprised. And to answer the question all of you have been asking…no,
I did not tell her I intend to take her job someday! I truly enjoyed witnessing
that side of the media that I never get to see, and it makes me want to be a
part of it that much more. It was kind of like watching a Red Sox game from a
sports bar, when I could be sitting on top of the Green Monster. 

Game two of the series was another incredible pitching match-up. Clay Buchholz,
who had a 0.00 ERA in his previous three starts, and is an AL candidate for the
Cy Young Award was facing Rays pitcher Matt Garza. Buchholz went 7 1/3 innings,
giving up four hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out five and
walking two. VMart kept up his hitting from the previous night, hitting another
solo shot in the top of the eighth to break the 1-1 tie and give us the lead.
However, when Buchholz returned for the bottom of the inning, he quickly gave
up that lead when B.J. Upton hit a lead-off, game-tying homerun. A few crucial
errors occurred for the Sox in the bottom of the seventh inning, though. The
first being a bad pick-off attempt by Buchholz that sailed into the right field
bullpen, allowing Carlos Pena to advance from first to third. After that, J.D.
Drew made a mental error by chasing a foul ball down the right field line and
catching it to make the out. However, that was only the second out of the
inning and Pena was able to tag-up and score from third. Pena’s run was the
first run allowed by Buchholz in 26 innings. One incredible defensive play was
made my Ryan Kalish in the bottom of the second, though, when he robbed Upton
of a possible RBI double or triple by making a diving catch in center field
(with a somersault at the end) to end the inning. As a
baseball fan, I was very excited about the bonus baseball we encountered that
night. I’ll never complain about free baseball, although it was heartbreaking
to watch Dan Johnson hit a walk-off homerun to win the game 3-2 against my team
in the bottom of the tenth inning. Being there to witness that was surreal,
bittersweet, but most of all, depressing.

That picture is me and Jamie Brooks (@jsbsox). I was able to meet her at the game on Saturday!!

Sunday came way too fast for my liking, but we had all day to waste because the
game was changed to the 8:00 PM ESPN game (which my dad was not thrilled about
because we had to change our flight from Sunday night to Monday morning). We
decided to go to the beach for a little while since we were staying in
Clearwater, which was only a 10-15 minute drive to the shore. I refused to wear
a bathing suit because I was on this trip to watch baseball, not get a tan. We
spent about an hour out there taking pictures and we even got some ice cream.
It was very relaxing (but very hot) and I was just ready to get back to the
field. After the gates opened, I rushed down and decided to try a new spot
during BP and I ended up on top of the dugout, right where the players walk in.
Within the first few minutes, Terry Francona came out of the dugout and started
signing autographs. I was lucky enough to have him point at me so I threw my
ball to him and he signed it and threw it back. A lot of the players
acknowledged us but I knew how focused they were on the final game of the
series. While I was standing there, Dick Vitale, a season ticket holder in the first
row behind home plate, showed up. My dad has always been a fan and talked me
into getting his autograph. It’s kind of ironic that I went to a three game
series to watch the Red Sox and I ended up walking away with two broadcasters
and a manager’s autographs. Oh well, it is what it is and I wouldn’t have
changed it for the world. But, there was a very essential game about to start
and we really needed to win, but the baseball God’s had something else in mind.

John Lackey was starting for us that night while we faced James Shields. Lackey
went 6 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits, walking three and
striking out seven. The turnaround in the game was in the bottom of the sixth,
when Lackey gave up three runs, a two-run game-tying homer by Carl Crawford and
then a bases loaded, one-out RBI single from Dan Johnson (the hero from the
previous night). It could have been two runs, however, VMart had a great block
of home plate to prevent the second run to score. But, the damage was done and
the Rays were on top 3-2 and never gave up the lead again. Yamaico Navarro had
his first RBI in the big club in the top of the fifth when he singled to score
Mike Lowell from third. The Rays ended up winning the game 5-3 and took two out
of three at Tropicana Field. It was a very tough weekend for the Sox, as we
fell 6 1/2 games behind the Rays and Yankees in the AL East and the Wild Card
Race.

Despite losing the series, I had such an incredible time. The cowbells, I must
admit, were a bit obnoxious and I would be perfectly content never having to
listen to them… ever again. A few of the Rays fans even stooped as low
as the World Cup and brought vuvuzela’s. It wasn’t completely

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abhorrent, however, I could never imagine having to deal with
that every single home game. I guess being a Red Sox fan isn’t so bad after
all. If I had to choose my favorite part of the entire weekend (which is almost impossible), it would be having the opportunity to watch Daniel Bard warm-up and pitch in two of the three games. He is my favorite player and my dad was amazed at how many pictures I took of him (sorry, dad)! 

Regardless of the injuries, the disappointments this season, and all the
heartbreak we’ve sustained, it was absolutely worth every penny to be able to
spend a weekend with my daddy, watching my favorite boys. So, thanks dad, for
everything. I had such a wonderful time with you and I know these memories will
last a lifetime! My trip to the Trop was an experience I will never forget, and
I just hope that we can turn this season around and show everyone what we are
capable of!

If you would like to see all the pictures from this weekend, add me as a friend on Facebook! I should have them up very soon!

Go Red Sox!

Jenn

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Had I been a little wiser, I would have become a sports team owner, and then pulled the same stunts and watched as everyone lined up to kiss my ass.

That’s how it works in the stadium game, and that’s the logic behind the Tampa Bay Rays’ ownership’s latest ploy to get a new stadium, and have it paid for by the government.

The trouble is that the local governments don’t have the money, and you can’t possibly be so naïve as to expect the team to foot the bill, so they’re invoking that old option: threatening to leave. Of course, what they’re really doing is saying that they don’t intend to stay through the end of their lease in 2027. Now, if I tried that in my apartment, announcing that I was leaving, I’d have all kinds of lawyers on my case, but this is sports – and this is the stadium game, where today’s signed, sealed and delivered contract is tomorrow’s toilet paper.

The trouble, some of the spelling-challenged commenters at the St. Pete Times’ website declared, is that the “fans” are not supporting the team by going to games at Tropicana Field, heretofore known as “the Trop.” But I guess I have to repeat myself: not everyone in the Tampa Bay area is a fan of the Rays. People take their team loyalties with them when they move. Look at what happens when the Yankees play at the Trop, or the Mets play at whatever the Marlins’ field is called this week. You see lots of butts in the seats, and lots of people cheering for the visitors.

When I was a kid growing up in the late 1960s, the male relatives and lots of other folks would get very excited when the Dodgers or Giants came to play the Mets at Shea. It was outside my experience and before my time, but that was because the team loyalties were so strong. Distance made following your team hard then, but today, you can be a fan of just about any sports team on the planet, and get the latest information online.

Thus, following your home team is easy and you can stay a fan. It means the local team doesn’t get the benefit of your loyalty, but that’s the way it is in sports.

The Rays’ owners bleat that they need a new stadium to have a competitive team, but the Rays are competitive now. It’s what you have on the field that brings in the people, not the stadium. When the Mets sucked in the 1970s, it was like being tortured to go to Shea and everyone talked about what a hole the place was. When the Mets finally got good again, the gripes about Shea died down. It was the same hole, but there was a winning team playing ball there.

Teams go through their ups and downs, and believing a new stadium will make a team a winner is like believing the uniform colors will affect their play.

I’ve been to the Trop, and it’s not a hole, or at least not a hole like Shea was all those years ago. It was weird to see baseball played inside, and the noise level was headache-inducing, but it wasn’t all that bad after a few innings.

If the owners of the Rays would focus on making their team an asset to the local kids and forget about the adults – because they all brought loyalties to other teams from wherever they’re from – they’ll have a fan base in the future. Throw it all away on a political war for a new stadium, and they’ll be the Las Vegas Rays or the North Carolina Rays, and no one will lament their departure.

Long after Shea Stadium was declared a hole, the Mets played there. Seeing it fall was sad, but the new stadium was definitely needed. The Mets will win and the Mets will lose there, but they’ll still be the Mets to me. That kind of loyalty will never die, no matter where I am.

What a pity the Rays’ ownership doesn’t understand that.

Seven-time Platinum recording artists [lastfm]Hall and Oates[/lastfm] are credited for being the inventors of the music genre Rock and Soul. Daryl Hall and John Oates first met while attending Temple University and have been unstoppable ever since. The duo is best known for their six No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 including such singles as I Can’t Go for That, Private Eyes, Maneater, Sara Smile, You Make My Dreams and Rich Girl. The dynamic twosomes boast the honor of being 2003 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

There were some slightly colorful areas:

And then some dull, boring areas:

Some empty gates:

Basically Nothing:

            The outside was somewhat interesting to see, and it made Tropicana Field seem pretty big. But then there was the inside to see. I went in through the Rotunda, which was nothing more than an area smaller than the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, except this one had a small baseball field painted on the ground. I ran past the rotunda and into the seating bowl, hoping to find some easter eggs. But when I entered the seats and saw that there were tens of ushers out already, I knew there’d be none. And the seats were plenty empty in the beginning, so a ball would be easy, right?

Breathtaking Tropicana Field

One hundred forty-six down, 16 to go. Remember back in April and May when it looked like the Jays would make something of this season? Man, September seemed like an intriguing prospect back then. Unfortunately, it has turned into quite the opposite.

The Jays roll into Tampa Bay tonight to face the Rays for three at Tropicana Field, where the Rays have taken five of six from Toronto this season and 137 of the last 138 overall (at least it feels that way). A red-hot Scott Richmond (6-9, 5.03 for the season, but 0-7 and 88.50 in his last three starts) faces James Shields in the opener, while Ricky Romero and Matt Garza battle tomorrow and Doc Halladay and David Price wrap things up Sunday.

Following the three-gamer in Tampa Bay, the Jays are back at Rogers Centre for three against Baltimore and four against Seattle to close out the home schedule. Over/under on total attendance for the seven games: 110,000.

… finally saw his beard in the mirror and thought he was a lumberjack.

… attempts to take out Cliff Floyd in hopes of actually seeing some playing time.

… auditions for the highly-anticipated sequel to “So I Married an Axe Murderer.”

… is weird!

Send me your thoughts at MaxwellJack@live.com.

Shea was pretty crowded Saturday and on TV it looks full on Sunday. The fans are loud and engaged, rooting for the Mets to stay alive and make it into the postseason. Such an event will put off the day when Shea Stadium no longer is the Mets’ home.

Near the end of the New York Mets’ 2-0 win over the Florida Marlins on Saturday, an announcer made an interesting observation that brings up what I wrote in a previous post.

He was commenting on the fan support for the Mets and said that “this is the way it’s supposed to be.”

He meant a team being fully supported in its stadium, as the Mets are at Shea and as they will be at Citi Field. By comparison, when the Marlins play the Mets in Florida, the stadium is usually half-empty, and the fans are usually divided between Mets fans and Marlins fans, with loud cheers for the visiting team.

The frustration of the announcers, players and team ownership is understandable. A team that is merely a means of bringing in other teams and the fans of those teams for home games has a very hard time developing its own fan base.

My comparison of the Mets in the mid- to late-60s is not totally accurate. Then, it was harder to be a fan of a team outside one’s marketing area. The local newspapers that covered the Dodgers and Giants were difficult to get unless you waited a few days, there was no ESPN to offer shows like “Baseball Tonight,” and unless the Dodgers or Giants were on national television, there was no way to see them.

So their arrival at Shea Stadium to play the Mets was the only time holdover fans could see them. As I wrote, it seemed that there was a lot of excitement when the two teams came to New York.

Today, it is very possible to sustain an interest in a far-off team, what with cable and satellite TV packages that offer far-off teams, the Web and its instant access to far-off newspapers’ sports sections and streaming audio and video of games on the Web.

New Yorkers are hardly the only ones who may have left the Big Apple but maintained loyalty to the Mets and Yankees. When the Red Sox play the Tampa Bay Rays, the Trop is usually full, too. And let’s not forget that the Rays had an amazing year themselves, and drew a lot of fans in their own right.

Ultimately, what can be done about loyalty that remains with a far-off team? Barring anything out of the ordinary, probably nothing. I know that while I dallied with the Marlins, I find myself coming back to the Mets. It’s how I was raised, I have so many wonderful memories of going to Mets games with my late father and with friends, and even at the distance from New York City to Ellenton, Fla., my heart and my hopes are still with the Mets.