Day 8 Game 9

Off to Cincinnati! I grew up loving the Big Red Machine! Johnny Bench, Pete Rose..those were the days!

Jim and Matt would join us for our last game in Ohio. We said good bye to the rest of the Dottavio Clan, Debbie, Jamie, and Sarah...and the dog that kept barking at me until I would hold it in the morning!

Thanks for putting up Nolan and I for two nights and eating all your food!

Our Seats were so high we didnt have to look up to see the score board!

But if was still a blast to watch my favorite team from my youth!










Nolan ate his hot dog, and we watched fireworks for like 40 minutes it seemed! We said good bye and hit the road for about 2 1/2 hours as we headed off into the night, getting a head start on our trip to St Louis!

Day 7 Game 8 Cleveland Indians vs the Yankees (Hansel)

So, after a good nights sleep (which means more than 6 hours sleep) We have a lazy start to the day. Jim had to work in the morning, so I updated the blog and the boys played video games in the basement. (For those of you from Texas a basement is a very large hole under the house with stairs leading down into it from inside...It is a distant cousin to a storm cellar that is NOT the size of a large coffin, pre-formed out of concrete, planted in your backyard, and made by the same people who make your septic tank)

Jamie and Deb Dottavio

Jamie is Sophmore and excels at Soccer and loves Lacrosse (Yes those are her real front teeth)So if you have any college scholarships for her, please let me know!








I got a call from Craig to let me know that since the Indians are playing the Yankees, we will have the chance to see A Rod hit his 600th Career home run! So needless to say that adds an air of excitement to the day!

When we got to Progressive field we kept looking for Flo, but she must of had better seats than we did!
Outside of the park they had a pitching radar gun and a batting cage that Nolan showed his baseball prowess!

The seats we had were great! we were on Field level 3rd base side! Jim snagged them off of Craigslist!
 We watched Alex Rodriguez come up to bat 5 separate times... twice in the 7th inning. The excitement and tension each time he got up to bat was indescribable! Everyone was on their feet and the cameras were flashing all over the place! But alas, it was not meant to be. ARod went 1 for 5 with a single one long drive to the warning track.

It was amazing to watch the Jugernaut that is the Yankees just steamroll over the Indians.
The Indians pitching was so hapless, that in the final at-bat for the Yankees, the Indians used a benched outfielder to pitch. The funniest part, is that he pitched a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts!

Choo was the highlight of the Indians. The fans really rooted for him and he hit the Yankees well.

Day 6 Game 7 Columbus Clippers (Hansel)

The trip from Louisville to Columbus was uneventful. As we arrived at the ballpark, a lady came up to us in the parking lot and asked us if we had tickets. She did not look like your typical scalper. She told us that her boss had season tickets and he was not going to the game. She asked if we could use 4 tickets. We said sure, since we had Jim and Matt Dottavio joining us. She GAVE us the the tickets and said they were very good seats. Well we said thanks and gave her the website to the blog, and headed on into the ballpark.

The tickets were awesome. We were about 8 rows up directly behind homeplate! As you can see in the picture, the radar gun was set up about 4 rows in front of us! As game time drew near, about 4 different guys came in and sat in front of us. They all had clipboards, printouts of some sort...and stopwatches. They were all major league scouts! We don't know if they were checking out one individual player, or just making the rounds, but the seats were great! Even though we are all the way into Central Ohio, it is still very humid and sticky! I have driven 1500 miles North and East, you think it would be a lot cooler!!

We went back to the gate and met up with our good friends from the Columbus area, Jim and Matt Dottavio. We both lived in Michigan when the boys were still in diapers and have staid in contact with them over the years. They were to be joining us for the next three games!

So Nolan ate his hotdog, we watched the game and enjoyed good company and headed to the Dottavio's house which would be our homebase for the next two nights! As you can tell, we are not taking as many picture. We are still having a good time at the games, but the photo ops just seem to be missed!

oklahoma redhawks

this is the last day of the roadtrip we did it we hit 11 ballparks in 10 days the hawks lost but it was still a pretty good game. if i got the chance i would do it again

st louis (nolan)

Sorry i havent posted lately. the cardnals dominated 11-1. we stopped in Santa Clause IN, they where already ready for christmas. we ate at this one burger joint that was really good . we are now on our way to the hotel.

Day 5 Game 6 Louisville Bats

As we neared Louisville, there is the world's longest Go Kart track in Shepardsville, KY. Nolan has been there twice before. The course is 1.5 miles long. So, even though time was getting close, we took a lap and got back on the road and made it into Louisville about 50 minutes before game time. We were surprised how many people were already there. When we walked into the ticket area there were hundreds, no thousands of kids weaving all through the area. We learned that Memphis was having kindergarten registration prior to the game and if the kindergartener went to all the stations they got a free ticket to the night's game. Well, I did NOT have to register Nolan for kindergarten. Tuesday at all minor league ball parks is buy one get one ticket if you have a Kraft Cheese Singles wrapper. Which I had been keeping in the car for the whole trip! As I stood in line to get our ticket, Nolan realized he did not have the camera. So I sent him out to the van to get it. He calls and says he can't find it. So I walk back out to the car and we search, and search, and search.. No camera. We call the Go kart track. The camera is at the go kart track and they close at 11:00pm. So, as you may notice there are no pictures of the Louisville Slugger game or inside the stadium. Nolan and I watch the game, which is a blow out 19 to 6 and leave after 8th inning to make a mad dash 23 miles back to the go kart track to retrieve the camera. So the only picture inside the ball park was taken with my cell phone...

Nolan's Hot dog and the foil artwork he made from eating 5 hotdogs!

After retrieving the camera, we spent the night across the river in Indiana, and then drove by the stadium and took a few photos

But now the important part of the trip in Louisville KY.....
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER FACTORY AND MUSEUM
It ain't "Mecca" but it worth the pilgrimage!

Yes that blue dot at the bottom of the bat at the entrance to the mus
eum is Nolan!

Nolan and Dad at the base of the big bat!

Nolan swinging John Bench's actual bat!

Nolan catching for Ken Griffey Jr!!

And for Alycia, my wonderful daughter, a picture of a picture of Hillary Duff with her own bat in front of the big bat!

They have a wall with the wood burned signatures of every player who was under contract with Louisville Slugger. The ones pictured here are all of the Hall of Fame Sluggers. Note Nolan Ryan signature on the second full row from the bottom, 8th from the left.

There was an art exhibit of the Negro Baseball League. Some very great art! Check it out. While in the exhibit they had a video call with the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the curators there displayed and talked about 3 recent artifacts recently added to the collection in Cooperstown.. A bat that the entire Angels team used their first time up in a game, Tony Gwyn's last game worn jersey, and a glove the a 3rd baseman (cant remember who) used. He always put "E6" right above the thumb where he could see it. E6 is baseball jargon for Error on the 3rd baseman. It was a reminder for him to always play his best because he could make an E6!

What a great stop! Well worth the $10 price of admission!

On to Columbus!

Trip to Louisville

We left Memphis around 8 am and headed toward Louisville. The original plan was to get to Louisville early so we could see the Louisville Slugger factory and museum. However, we decided to make a couple of stops.  We stopped in Nashville to see the Parthenon.

We got to drive around Vanderbilt a bit before we found the highway. Our next goal was to see the Grand Ol Opry but it was a closed access area since the Spring flooding. So, no pics!

Our next stop was Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky!

This is the sunken spring right in front of Lincoln's birthplace. It was a light rain, very serene a lush! That is Nolan that red dot way down in the spring!

There is a monument built over the original birthplace. It was built on the 100th birthday of Lincoln. The bronze statute is of the Lincoln family when Abe was a baby. Very nice museum. There are 2 other Lincoln attractions in the area that we did not get to!

Memphis Red Birds Game 5 Day 4

So we made the trip to back to Memphis and found the stadium with no problem. Once again rain threatened...even a short shower about an hour before first pitch. They left the tarp 1/2 folded in the outfield until about 15 minutes before game time.

Nolan and I got to go on the field for a fan contest tossing bean bags on to a mat that looked like a hamburger. We won the contest! We won a container to keep Kraft Cheese Slices in!! Wow what a prize! We got to go down inside the stadium and saw where there is a batting cage directly behind homeplate. The players were taking cuts when they were in the hole (3rd up to bat). There is a picture somewhere of Nolan's hot dog...but I cant find it!

Once the game was over we headed to an old college friend Larry's house. Once again with in 15 minutes of the game ending it was pouring rain! Thanks Larry for letting us impose on you!

Monday W. Tenn Jaxxs (Hansel)

The day started way too early after driving till 1am the previous night. Thanks to Josh and Bethany for letting us crash at their place outside of Little Rock! Nolan loved the muffins and cookies! This is what a fine young Air Force pilot looks like before he puts on the uniform!!

We drove about 3 hours through Arkansas and Western Tenn to get to Jackson. It was hot and humid with threatening thunderstorms through the whole game. For relief, the Fire Dept was hosing down the General Admission section on the third base side!

We saw some good baseball. While there Nolan got to announce over the loud systemthe batters during a 1/2 inning! If it had not of been for us, and a group of Ohio kids on a mission trip, there would have been more players in game than fans in the stands! 

Nolan did learn to throw a new pitch! It is called a "Nutter" Ball. Look at the grip closely!

We also got our first foul ball!

So Nolan ate his hot dog, and we were off to backtrack 90 miles to Memphis to see the Redbirds that night! Once again within 30 minutes of leaving the field it came a down pour of rain! Someone is watching over us!