Baseball Honeymoon #9

Heyyyyyy, get ya Bud Light, heeeah. Get your Natty Bo! HOT dawwwwgs. PeaNUUUTS, peanuts.

That’s right people. We are going out to the old ballpark on Baseball Honeymoon this time. The good news is there are no bad seats on a podcast. We start out in the car on the way to the park, talking about the standings after the 1st month of Major League play, and Lisa and Wayne marvel at the some of the topsy-turvy numbers. The Yankees team era is near the bottom despite having paid all those millions out for CC and AJ. On the other hand, the bargain basement Buccos are missing bats very well, thank you. Other shockers discussed are the Mariners, the Royals and the Marlins.

At 14:46 we arrive at the gate and meet Houston Astros personnel executive Paul Ricciarini, widely respected as one of baseball’s top scouts. Like Johnny Cash, Paul’s been everywhere, man! He has seen almost all of the big and small league parks, and Lisa gets his take on what’s really good and interesting at contemporary ballparks.

As we get to our seats, it’s pre-game trivia time at 26:35, and Wayne lets you know exactly how it was that the 1969 Mets stole WS MVP Donn Clendenon away from the expansion Expos. Lisa then gives us a poser for which you will probably need your pocket USA maps.

At 1st pitch (33:00), we realize we are sitting next to Lisa Swan, who co-writes the fabulously successful and side-achingly funny blog “Subway Squawkers”. Lisa Swan has visited two parks Paul hasn’t made it to yet, Citifield and the new Yankee Stadium. We get the lowdown from Ms. Swan about the good, bad and ugly of the pricey new stadia. And yes, she is just as funny in voice as she is on paper/monitor.

49:29 The PA system blares “There Used to Be a Ballpark Here”, the C.O.B.

During the 7th inning stretch (50:15), we see that Bill Heid has flown back from China for a game, adding to his Herculean attendance numbers. Bill reminisces about his favorite memories at the ballpark.

The closer takes the mound at 54:52, and we finish our day at the park with our Top 5 ballpark memories. Wayne describes a Crime Dog blast, Lisa describes a hot dog bomb. Wayne dodges a missile from Rock, Lisa describes a Hawaiian giving a rock to his bride. Confused? Well, that’s why they play the games!

As we leave the ballpark, the PA plays “I’ll Be Seeing You”, by Trio Balança. Much better than “New York, New York”!